Determinants of favorable or unfavorable opinion about euthanasia in a sample of French cancer patients receiving palliative care

BMC Palliative Care

Sébastien Salas¹  Alexandre de Nonneville¹  Théo Chabal¹  Florence Duffaud¹  Anthony Marin¹  Véronique Tuzzolino²  Marie Fichaux²  Augustin Boulanger³  Jean Marc La Piana³  Karine Baumstark⁴  Pascal Auquier⁴ 

[1] Aix Marseille University;Department of Oncology and Palliative Care, Timone Hospital;La Maison;Unité d’Aide Méthodologique à la Recherche Clinique et Epidémiologique, AP-HM;

关键词: Euthanasia;    Opinions;    Cancer;    Patients;    Palliative care;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12904-018-0357-6

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Abstract Background Opinion about euthanasia has been explored among the general population and recently in patients receiving palliative care. 96% of the French population declared themselves in favor of euthanasia while less of 50% of palliative care patients are. The aim of the present study was to explore and identify potential determinant factors associated with favorable or unfavorable opinion about euthanasia in a French population of cancer patients receiving palliative care. Methods We performed a cross-sectional study among patients in two palliative care units. Eligible patients were identified by the medical staff. Face-to-face interviews were performed by two investigators. Two groups were defined as favorable or unfavorable about euthanasia according to the answer on the specific question about patient opinion on euthanasia. A multivariate analysis including age, belief in God, chemotherapy and gender was built. Results Seventy-eight patients were interviewed. Median age was 60.5 years (range: 31–87.2). In univariate analysis, patients with a favorable opinion were most often under 60 years old (62 versus 38% unfavorable; p = 0.035), in couple (64 versus 35%; p = 0.032), didn’t believe in God (72 versus 28% were non-believers; p < 0.001) and had more frequently an history of chemotherapy treatment (58 versus 42% received at least one cycle of chemotherapy; p = 0.005). In a multivariate analysis, age <  60 years, absence of belief in God and an antecedent of chemotherapy were independently associated with a favorable opinion about euthanasia (OR = 0.237 [0.076–0.746]; p = 0.014, OR = 0.143 [0.044–0.469]; p = 0.001, and OR = 10.418 [2.093–51.853]; p = 0.004, respectively). Conclusion We report here determinants of opinion about euthanasia in palliative care cancer patients. Thus, young patients who do not believe in God and have a history of chemotherapy treatment are more likely to request the discontinuation or restriction of their treatment. A better understanding of these determinants is essential for the development of information and/or interventions tailored to the palliative context.

【 授权许可】

Unknown