Observational studyPalliative medicine2024
The double awareness of the wish to hasten death and the will to live: A secondary analysis of outlier patients from a mixed-methods study.
Observational study in Palliative medicine, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 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.
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
5 citing papers in PubMed.
- Validation of the Double Awareness Scale: A Novel Measure of Psychological Adaptation to Advanced Cancer.Psycho-oncology · 2026Article
- The patient-doctor relationship questionnaire (PDRQ-9). An overview of 20 years of research and a proposal for normalisation of scores. Systematic review.Frontiers in health services · 2026Review
- The euthanasia law from the perspective of healthcare professionals in Spain.BMC medical ethics · 2025Article
- How to improve dealing with desire to die in hospice volunteers and informal caregivers.Palliative & supportive care · 2025Article
- Desire to Die Communication Training for Professionals: Developing Online Formats.Palliative medicine reports · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPatients with serious illness frequently report (temporary) wishes to hasten death. Even until the end-of-life, many patients also harbor a will to live. Although both phenomena are negatively correlated according to some studies, they can also co-exist. Knowledge about the complex relationship between the seemingly opposing wish to hasten death and will to live is limited, but crucial for delivering adequate care and understanding potential requests for assisted dying.
aimTo study the correlation of and explore the relationship between wish to hasten death and will to live over 6 weeks.
designObservatory, prospective cohort study following a mixed methods design. Analysis of quantitative (Schedules of Attitudes Toward Hastened Death, a visual numerical scale and (additional) validated questionnaires) and qualitative (semi-structured interviews) data with illustrative case descriptions. SETTING/
participantsPatients receiving palliative care with heterogenous underlying diseases from various care settings, before and after an open conversation on a possible desire to die.
resultsIn
conclusionsAs they can co-exist in different possible combinations, a high wish to hasten death does not necessarily imply a low will to live and vice versa. Patients receiving palliative care can hold such seemingly opposing positions in mind as a form of coping when confronted with an existential threat of serious illness. Therefore, health professionals are encouraged to proactively engage patients in conversation about both phenomena.
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