ReviewBJPsych open2022
Investigating the relationship between euthanasia and/or assisted suicide and rates of non-assisted suicide: systematic review.
Review in BJPsych open, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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
8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- The association between social connectedness and euthanasia and assisted suicide and related constructs: systematic review.BMC public health · 2024Pooled it
- Trends in Reported End-of-Life Concerns after the Legalization of Physician-Assisted Suicide.Southern medical journal · 2026Article
- Euthanasia for mental suffering in young people: a critical global perspective.World psychiatry : official journal of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA) · 2026Article
- Forensic-psychiatric and medico-legal challenges in euthanasia and assisted suicide for patients with mental disorders: balancing autonomy, vulnerability, and professional responsibility.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
- Review
- Persons suffering from severe and persistent mental illness with a persistent death wish: A cross-sectional study of the Reakiro care model.PLOS mental health · 2025Article
- Multidimensional Study of the Attitude towards Euthanasia of Older Adults with Mixed Anxiety-Depressive Disorder.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Examining assisted suicide and euthanasia through the lens of healthcare quality.Irish journal of medical science · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundEuthanasia and assisted suicide (EAS) are practices that aim to alleviate the suffering of people with life-limiting illnesses, but are controversial. One area of debate is the relationship between EAS and suicide rates in the population, where there have been claims that availability of EAS will reduce the number of self-initiated deaths (EAS and suicide combined). Others claim that legislation for EAS makes it acceptable to end one's own life, a message at variance with that of suicide prevention campaigns.
aimsTo examine the relationship between the introduction of EAS and rates of non-assisted suicide and self-initiated death.
methodWe conducted a systematic review to examine the association between EAS and rates of non-assisted suicide and of self-initiated death. We searched PubMed, Scopus, PsycINFO and Science Direct, until 20 December 2021. Studies that examined EAS and reported data on population-based suicide rates were included.
resultsSix studies met the inclusion criteria; four reported increases in overall rates of self-initiated death and, in some cases, increased non-assisted suicide. This increase in non-assisted suicide was mostly non-significant when sociodemographic factors were controlled for. Studies from Switzerland and Oregon reported elevated rates of self-initiated death among older women, consistent with higher rates of depressive illnesses in this population.
conclusionsThe findings of this review do not support the hypothesis that introducing EAS reduces rates of non-assisted suicide. The disproportionate impact on older women indicates unmet suicide prevention needs in this population.
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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.