Dolores Angela Castelli Dransart1, Sylvie Lapierre2, Annette Erlangsen3, Silvia Sara Canetto4, Marnin Heisel5, Brian Draper6, Reinhard Lindner7, Stephane Richard-Devantoy8, Gary Cheung9, Paolo Scocco10, Ricardo Gusmão11, Diego De Leo12, Ken Inoue13, Vincent De Techterman1, Amy Fiske14, Jin Pyo Hong15, Marjolaine Landry16, Andrée-Anne Lepage2, Isabelle Marcoux17, Peter Jongho Na18, Eva Neufeld, Deborah Ummel19, Jan-Henrik Winslov20, Christine Wong21, Jing Wu22, Marilyn Wyart23. 1. School of Social Work Fribourg, HES-SO University of Applied Sciences and Art Western Switzerland, Switzerland. 2. Department of Psychology, Université du Québec à Trois Rivières, Trois Rivières, Canada. 3. Danish Research Institute for Suicide Prevention, Mental Health Centre, Copenhagen, Denmark. 4. Department of Psychology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, USA. 5. Department of Psychiatry, Western University, Canada. 6. School of Psychiatry, University of NSW, Sidney Australia, and Eastern Suburbs Older Person's Mental Health Prince of Wales Hospital Randwick, Australia. 7. Institute of Social Work, University Kassel, Germany. 8. Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, and Douglas Mental Health University Institute, Montreal, Canada. 9. Department of Psychological Medecine, School of Medecine, University of Auckland, New Zealand. 10. ULSS-6 Euganea and SOPROXI Onlus, Padova, Italy. 11. Public Healh Institute, University of Porto, Portugal. 12. Australian Institute for Suicide Research and Prevention, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia. 13. Research and Education Faculty, Medical Sciences Cluster Health Service Center, Kochi University, Japan. 14. Department of Psychology, West Virginia University, USA. 15. Department of Psychiatry, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Republic of Korea. 16. Department of Nursing, Université du Québec à Trois Rivières, Canada. 17. Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada. 18. Department of Psychiatry, New York University Langone Health, USA. 19. Department of Psychoeducation, Université de Sherbrooke, Montréal, Canada. 20. Unit for Suicide Prevention, Aalborg University Hospital, Denmark. 21. Caritas Singapore, Singapore. 22. Department of Sociology and Work Science, University of Gothenburg, Sweden. 23. Unit of Geropsychiatry, Clinique Saint Antoine, Montarnaud, France.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: Prevalence rates of death by euthanasia (EUT) and physician-assisted suicide (PAS) have increased among older adults, and public debates on these practices are still taking place. In this context, it seemed important to conduct a systematic review of the predictors (demographic, physical health, psychological, social, quality of life, religious, or existential) associated with attitudes toward, wishes and requests for, as well as death by EUT/PAS among individuals aged 60 years and over. METHOD: The search for quantitative studies in PsycINFO and MEDLINE databases was conducted three times from February 2016 until April 2018. Articles of probable relevance (n = 327) were assessed for eligibility. Studies that only presented descriptive data (n = 306) were excluded. RESULTS: This review identified 21 studies with predictive analyses, but in only 4 did older adults face actual end-of-life decisions. Most studies (17) investigated attitudes toward EUT/PAS (9 through hypothetical scenarios). Younger age, lower religiosity, higher education, and higher socio-economic status were the most consistent predictors of endorsement of EUT/PAS. Findings were heterogeneous with regard to physical health, psychological, and social factors. Findings were difficult to compare across studies because of the variety of sample characteristics and outcomes measures. CONCLUSION: Future studies should adopt common and explicit definitions of EUT/PAS, as well as research designs (e.g. mixed longitudinal) that allow for better consideration of personal, social, and cultural factors, and their interplay, on EUT/PAS decisions.
OBJECTIVES: Prevalence rates of death by euthanasia (EUT) and physician-assisted suicide (PAS) have increased among older adults, and public debates on these practices are still taking place. In this context, it seemed important to conduct a systematic review of the predictors (demographic, physical health, psychological, social, quality of life, religious, or existential) associated with attitudes toward, wishes and requests for, as well as death by EUT/PAS among individuals aged 60 years and over. METHOD: The search for quantitative studies in PsycINFO and MEDLINE databases was conducted three times from February 2016 until April 2018. Articles of probable relevance (n = 327) were assessed for eligibility. Studies that only presented descriptive data (n = 306) were excluded. RESULTS: This review identified 21 studies with predictive analyses, but in only 4 did older adults face actual end-of-life decisions. Most studies (17) investigated attitudes toward EUT/PAS (9 through hypothetical scenarios). Younger age, lower religiosity, higher education, and higher socio-economic status were the most consistent predictors of endorsement of EUT/PAS. Findings were heterogeneous with regard to physical health, psychological, and social factors. Findings were difficult to compare across studies because of the variety of sample characteristics and outcomes measures. CONCLUSION: Future studies should adopt common and explicit definitions of EUT/PAS, as well as research designs (e.g. mixed longitudinal) that allow for better consideration of personal, social, and cultural factors, and their interplay, on EUT/PAS decisions.
Authors: Tiago C Zortea; Connor T A Brenna; Mary Joyce; Heather McClelland; Marisa Tippett; Maxwell M Tran; Ella Arensman; Paul Corcoran; Simon Hatcher; Marnin J Heise; Paul Links; Rory C O'Connor; Nicole E Edgar; Yevin Cha; Giuseppe Guaiana; Eileen Williamson; Mark Sinyor; Stephen Platt Journal: Crisis Date: 2020-10-16
Authors: H M M T B Herath; K W S M Wijayawardhana; U I Wickramarachchi; Chaturaka Rodrigo Journal: BMC Med Ethics Date: 2021-12-07 Impact factor: 2.652