ArticleJournal of neurology2014
Euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: a prospective study.
Article in Journal of neurology, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 60 citations in OpenAlex.
- Patients' and caregivers' attitudes towards patient assisted suicide or euthanasia in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis-a meta-analysis.Acta neurologica Belgica · 2024Pooled it
- Advance directives in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis - a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC palliative care · 2024Pooled it
- The involvement of family in the Dutch practice of euthanasia and physician assisted suicide: a systematic mixed studies review.BMC medical ethics · 2019Pooled it
- Organ donation and brain preservation after assisted dying: case report and considerations for a potential pathway.BMC medical ethics · 2026Article
- Factors associated with requests for Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) referral among patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis receiving specialist palliative care.Journal of neurology · 2026Article
- [Assisted suicides in Bavaria from 2020 to 2023-the first results from the multiple cause of death statistics].Bundesgesundheitsblatt, Gesundheitsforschung, Gesundheitsschutz · 2026Article
- Dilemma in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and expectations from brain-machine interfaces.Annals of medicine · 2024Article
- Update on recent advances in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.Journal of neurology · 2024Review
- What medical conditions lead to a request for euthanasia? A rapid scoping review.Health science reports · 2024Article
- One third of physicians discuss exit strategies with patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: Results from nationwide surveys among German and Polish neurologists.Brain and behavior · 2024Article
- Article
- Communicating the diagnosis: a survey of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and their families in Japan.Acta neurologica Belgica · 2022Article
- Talking about the end of life: communication patterns in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis - a scoping review.Palliative care and social practice · 2022Article
- The wish to die and hastening death in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: A scoping review.BMJ supportive & palliative care · 2021Article
- Communication About End of Life for Patients Living With Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: A Scoping Review of the Empirical Evidence.Frontiers in neurology · 2021Article
- The Impact of Cognitive and Behavioral Symptoms on ALS Patients and Their Caregivers.Frontiers in neurology · 2019Review
- Article
- Article
- Recent advances in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.Journal of neurology · 2016Review
- Palliative care for patients with motor neurone disease: current challenges.Degenerative neurological and neuromuscular disease · 2016Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The objective of this study is to determine if quality of care, symptoms of depression, disease characteristics and quality of life of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) are related to requesting euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide (EAS) and dying due to EAS. Therefore, 102 ALS patients filled out structured questionnaires every 3 months until death and the results were correlated with EAS. Thirty-one percent of the patients requested EAS, 69% of whom eventually died as a result of EAS (22% of all patients). Ten percent died during continuous deep sedation; only one of them had explicitly requested death to be hastened. Of the patients who requested EAS, 86% considered the health care to be good or excellent, 16% felt depressed, 45% experienced loss of dignity and 42% feared choking. These percentages do not differ from the number of patients who did not explicitly request EAS. The frequency of consultations of professional caregivers and availability of appliances was similar in both groups. Our findings do not support continuous deep sedation being used as a substitute for EAS. In this prospective study, no evidence was found for a relation between EAS and the quality and quantity of care received, quality of life and symptoms of depression in patients with ALS. Our study does not support the notion that unmet palliative care needs are related to EAS.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.