ArticleCanadian family physician Medecin de famille canadien2015
Health care professionals' comprehension of the legal status of end-of-life practices in Quebec: study of clinical scenarios.
Article in Canadian family physician Medecin de famille canadien, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- Individual characteristics influencing the general population's level of knowledge of end-of-life practices: a cross-sectional study.Palliative care and social practice · 2025Article
- Practical and ethical complexities of MAiD: Examples from Quebec.Wellcome open research · 2020Article
- Canadian Medical Education Journal Survey evaluations of University of British Columbia residents' education and attitudes regarding palliative care and physician assisted death.Canadian medical education journal · 2017Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo determine health care professionals' understanding of the current legal status of different end-of-life practices and their future legal status if medical aid in dying were legalized, and to identify factors associated with misunderstanding surrounding the current legal status.
designCross-sectional survey using 6 clinical scenarios developed from a validated European questionnaire and from a validated classification of end-of-life practices.
settingQuebec.
participantsHealth care professionals (physicians and nurses).
main outcome measuresPerceptions of the current legal status of the given scenarios and whether or not the practices would be authorized in the event that medical aid in dying were legalized.
resultsAmong the respondents (n = 271, response rate 88.0%), more than 98% knew that the administration or prescription of lethal medication was currently illegal. However, 45.8% wrongly thought that it was not permitted to withdraw a potentially life-prolonging treatment at the patient's request, and this misconception was more common among nurses and professionals who had received their diplomas longer ago. Only 39.5% believed that, in the event that medical aid in dying were legalized, the use of lethal medication would be permitted at the patient's request, and 34.6% believed they would be able to give such medication to an incompetent patient upon a relative's request.
conclusionHealth care professionals knew which medical practices were illegal, but some wrongly believed that current permitted practices were not legal. There were various interpretations of what would or would not be allowed if medical aid in dying were legalized. Education on the clinical implications of end-of-life practice legislation should be promoted.
Indexed as
Identifiers
26052600PMC4396778What OpenQuestion holds
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.