ArticleBMC medical ethics2021
Attitudes on euthanasia among medical students and doctors in Sri Lanka: a cross sectional study.
Article in BMC medical ethics, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed.
- A comparative cross-sectional study of euthanasia knowledge, attitudes and acceptance among medical students at the University of Ibadan.BMC medical education · 2026Article
- Euthanasia in Syria: an examination of medical student attitudes and predictors in a conflict zone.BMC medical ethics · 2026Article
- Attitudes towards euthanasia and assisted suicide: a cross-sectional study among physicians in Estonia.BMJ open · 2025Article
- Life, death, and ethics: medical and dental students' attitudes on assisted dying in Austria.BMC health services research · 2025Article
- Re-evaluation of the psychometric properties of ATE following changes in euthanasia regulations in Spain.PloS one · 2025Article
- Nurses' opinions on euthanasia in Spain: an evaluation using a new version of the EAS.BMC nursing · 2024Article
- Attitude towards Euthanasia among Medical Students: A Cross-Sectional Study in Hong Kong.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Validation of the Greek Version of Euthanasia Attitude Scale (EAS) in Greek Medical Doctors.Nursing reports (Pavia, Italy) · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundEuthanasia is a topic of intense ethical debate and it is illegal in most countries at present, including Sri Lanka. The aim of this descriptive cross-sectional study of medical students and practicing doctors was to explore the acceptance of euthanasia and physician assisted suicide (PAS), and factors influencing this opinion.
methodsA customised online questionnaire which explored opinions on euthanasia was administered to first and final year medical undergraduates in University of Colombo and practicing doctors with more than 5 years of work experience at The National Hospital of Sri Lanka. Attitudes on euthanasia and PAS were also assessed with the attitudes towards euthanasia (ATE) Scale, which is a 10-item questionnaire.
resultsA total of 425 individuals responded (males: 178, 42%, age: median - 27 years), which included 143 (33.6%) first-year medical undergraduates, 141 (33.2%) final-year medical undergraduates and 141 (33.2%) practicing doctors. More participants (200, 47.1%) favoured legalizing euthanasia than those directly opposing it (110, 25.9%), but a significant proportion (27%) remained undecided. The mean scores of ATE questionnaire from the whole sample were generally unfavourable towards euthanasia/PAS. Accepting euthanasia as an option for oneself (p = < 0.001) was the strongest predictor of favouring euthanasia/PAS or supporting its legalization.
conclusionIn this cross-sectional survey, more respondents supported legalisation of euthanasia in Sri Lanka than those openly opposing it. Yet, a significant minority that responded as "undecided" for legalisation, were more likely to have unfavourable ATE.
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