Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39581987›Full record

ArticleBMC medical ethics2024

Views on medical assistance in dying and related arguments: a survey of doctors and nurses at a university hospital.

Svanur Sigurbjörnsson, Brynhildur K Ásgeirsdóttir, Elsa B Valsdóttir

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Article in BMC medical ethics, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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1 · What the graph read from it

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3 · Its place in the literature

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Svanur SigurbjörnssonUniversity of Iceland, Faculty of Medicine, Reykjavik, Iceland. svanurmd@gmail.com.
Brynhildur K ÁsgeirsdóttirUniversity of Iceland, Faculty of Medicine, Reykjavik, Iceland.
Elsa B ValsdóttirUniversity of Iceland, Faculty of Medicine, Reykjavik, Iceland.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundIn 2021, a survey was conducted among doctors and nurses at Landspítali Iceland University Hospital (LIUH) regarding their views on medical assistance in dying (MAID) and the underlying arguments, the inclusion criteria and modality of implementation. Surveys on identically defined study groups in 1995 and 2010 were used for comparison.

methodsThe survey was sent to 357 doctors and 516 nurses working at LIUH. It included seven questions and several subquestions. Participants' answers were compared by profession, age group, and specialisation status. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used.

resultsA total of 135 doctors (38% response rate) and 103 nurses (20% response rate) answered the survey, representing 27% of the study group. A total of 145 (61%) participants were positive about MAID, with the most common argument being patient autonomy. The 95% margin of error for this view was ± 6.2%. Compared to 19% in 2010, support for MAID had tripled in 2021 (p < 0.05). Approximately 18% of participants did not support MAID of any kind, mostly due to arguments regarding preserving life or inconsistencies with the role of health care professionals. Finally, 19% of participants were uncertain of their views towards MAID, mostly due to the high level of complexity of the matter.

conclusionCompared to previous surveys, a large increase in positive attitudes towards MAID was observed among this study population. The results revealed the reasons for participants' attitudes; weighing patients' dignity/autonomy against professionals' duty to "not to kill"/palliate and showing some differences between professions.

Indexed as

Attitude of Health PersonnelHospitals, UniversityPhysiciansSuicide, AssistedAdultFemaleHumansIcelandMaleMiddle AgedNursesNursing Staff, HospitalPersonal AutonomySurveys and QuestionnairesArgumentsHealth care professionalsIcelandLegal loopholeMedical assistance in dying (MAID)ModalityNordic countryUniversity hospitalViews on euthanasia and physician assisted suicide (PAS)

Identifiers

PMID39581987
PMCPMC11587625

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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.