Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38627694›Full record

SynthesisBMC public health2024

The association between social connectedness and euthanasia and assisted suicide and related constructs: systematic review.

Emma Corcoran, Molly Bird, Rachel Batchelor, Nafiso Ahmed, Rebecca Nowland, Alexandra Pitman

Open access · goldAbstract readSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in BMC public health, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
4.5field-weighted citation impact, top 6% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 7 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Article
  4. Predictors of Support for Euthanasia and Physician-Assisted Suicide (EPAS) Among Older Adults in Israel.European journal of investigation in health, psychology and education · 2025
    Article
  5. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Emma CorcoranUCL Division of Psychiatry, University College London, London, UK.
Molly BirdUCL Division of Psychiatry, University College London, London, UK.
Rachel BatchelorSussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, West Sussex, UK.
Nafiso AhmedUCL Division of Psychiatry, University College London, London, UK.
Rebecca NowlandSchool of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, UK.
Alexandra PitmanUCL Division of Psychiatry, University College London, London, UK. a.pitman@ucl.ac.uk.
University College London · GBUniversity of Central Lancashire · GBUniversity of Oxford · GB

Funding

UK Research and Innovation ES/S004440/1
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundEuthanasia and assisted suicide (EAS) requests are common in countries where they are legal. Loneliness and social isolation are modifiable risk factors for mental illness and suicidal behaviour and are common in terminal illness. Our objective was to summarise available literature to clarify whether these and related measures of social connectedness might contribute to requests for EAS.

methodsWe conducted a pre-registered (PROSPERO CRD42019160508) systematic review and narrative synthesis of quantitative literature investigating associations between social connectedness and a) requested/actual EAS, b) attitudes towards EAS, and c) a desire for hastened death (DHD) by searching six databases (PsycINFO, MEDLINE, EMBASE, Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar) from inception to November 2022, rating eligible peer-reviewed, empirical studies using the QATSO quality assessment tool.

resultsWe identified 37 eligible studies that investigated associations with a) requested/actual EAS (n = 9), b) attitudes to EAS (n = 16), and c) DHD (n = 14), with limited overlap, including 17,359 participants. The majority (62%) were rated at medium/high risk of bias. Focussing our narrative synthesis on the more methodologically sound studies, we found no evidence to support an association between different constructs of social connectedness and requested or actual EAS, and very little evidence to support an association with attitudes to EAS or an association with DHD.

conclusionsOur findings for all age groups are consistent with a those of a previous systematic review focussed on older adults and suggest that poor social connectedness is not a clear risk factor for EAS or for measures more distally related to EAS. However, we acknowledge low study quality in some studies in relation to sampling, unvalidated exposure/outcome measures, cross-sectional design, unadjusted analyses, and multiple testing. Clinical assessment should focus on modifying established risk factors for suicide and EAS, such as hopelessness and depression, as well as improving any distressing aspects of social disconnectedness to improve quality of life.

fundingUKRI, NIHR.

Indexed as

EuthanasiaSuicide, AssistedHumansLonelinessSocial IsolationAssisted suicideEuthanasiaLonelinessPhysician-assisted suicide; systematic reviewSocial connectednessSocial isolationSocial support

Identifiers

PMID38627694
PMCPMC11020194
OpenAlexW4394849665

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.