ArticleAnnals of family medicine
Patients Who Seek to Hasten Death by Voluntarily Stopping Eating and Drinking: A Qualitative Study.
Article in Annals of family medicine. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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
2 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- The experience of nurses when providing care across acts that may be perceived as death hastening: A qualitative evidence synthesis.Palliative medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Carers' Perspective on Voluntary Stopping of Eating and Drinking: A Systematic Mixed-Methods Review of Motives and Attitudes.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeVoluntary stopping of eating and drinking (VSED) is a controversial method to hasten death. Little is known about why and how people come to VSED. This study assessed patients' motives, how patients decide on VSED, and the ways in which they prepare for VSED and involve others.
methodsWe conducted a qualitative study in the Netherlands of 29 patients; 24 started VSED and 19 died. Thirteen patients were included before or during VSED and 16 afterward. We interviewed 17 patients, 18 relatives, and 10 professional caregivers. Inductive ideal-type analysis was used to describe typologies.
resultsThree patient groups emerged. The first group (12 patients) were older people who felt life was completed, for whom control was important. They prepared well for VSED, but could overlook the need for help and the emotional burden their decision could place on relatives. The second group (11 patients) were older care-dependent patients with a poor quality of life. They sometimes started VSED suddenly, and they relied heavily on (informal) caregivers to prepare and execute their plan. The third group (6 patients) were psychiatric patients with a long-standing but fluctuating death wish, most of whom were younger. They often prepared for VSED in secrecy or started VSED unprepared.
conclusionsPatients embarking on a trajectory toward VSED are a very diverse group, with different care needs. Guidance for care during VSED needs to be applicable to all 3 groups.
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