ArticleBMC geriatrics2020
Prevalence and characteristics of older adults with a persistent death wish without severe illness: a large cross-sectional survey.
Article in BMC geriatrics, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 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.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 28 citations in OpenAlex.
- Understanding death wishes in later life: a narrative review.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Review
- Exploring the concept of a "friendly relationship to death" in geriatric patients.BMC geriatrics · 2025Article
- Multidimensional Study of the Attitude towards Euthanasia of Older Adults with Mixed Anxiety-Depressive Disorder.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Frequency of self-directed dying in the Netherlands: research protocol of a cross-sectional mixed-methods study.BMJ open · 2024Article
- Euthanasia and Physician-Assisted Suicide in People With an Accumulation of Health Problems Related to Old Age: A Cross-Sectional Questionnaire Study Among Physicians in the Netherlands.International journal of public health · 2024Article
- Assisted suicide a 20The Ulster medical journal · 2023Article
- Lifelong versus not lifelong death wishes in older adults without severe illness: a cross-sectional survey.BMC geriatrics · 2022Article
- Intentionally ending one's own life in the presence or absence of a medical condition: A nationwide mortality follow-back study.SSM - population health · 2021Article
- Older Adults Who Experience Their Lives to Be Completed and No Longer Worth Living: A Systematic Mini-Review Into Used Terminology, Definitions, and Interpretations.Frontiers in psychology · 2021Review
- Questioning the value of present life: The lived experience of older people who see no future for themselves.Aging & mental healthArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundSome older persons develop a persistent death wish without being severely ill, often referred to as "completed life" or "tiredness of life". In the Netherlands and Belgium, the question whether these persons should have legal options for euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide (EAS) is intensely debated. Our main aim was to investigate the prevalence and characteristics of older adults with a persistent death wish without severe illness, as the lack of this knowledge is a crucial problem in de debate.
methodsWe conducted a survey among a representative sample of 32,477 Dutch citizens aged 55+, comprising questions about health, existential issues and the nature of the death wish. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the group with a persistent death wish and no severe illness (PDW-NSI) and several subgroups.
resultsA total of 21,294 respondents completed the questionnaire (response rate 65.6%). We identified 267 respondents (1.25%) as having a persistent death wish and no severe illness (PDW-NSI). PDW-NSI did not only occur among the oldest old. Although qualifying themselves as "not severely ill", those with PDW-NSI reported considerable health problems. A substantial minority of the PDW-NSI-group reported having had a death wish their whole lives. Within the group PDW-NSI 155 (0.73%) respondents had an active death wish, of which 36 (0.17% of the total response) reported a wish to actually end their lives. Thus, a death wish did not always equal a wish to actually end one's life. Moreover, the death wishes were often ambiguous. For example, almost half of the PDW-NSI-group (49.1%) indicated finding life worthwhile at this moment.
conclusionsThe identified characteristics challenge the dominant "completed life" or "tiredness of life" image of healthy persons over the age of 75 who, overseeing their lives, reasonably decide they would prefer to die. The results also show that death wishes without severe illness are often ambiguous and do not necessarily signify a wish to end one's life. It is of great importance to acknowledge these nuances and variety in the debate and in clinical practice, to be able to adequately recognize the persons involved and tailor to their needs.
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