Among the ACP physicians, 78 percent of respondents supported the use of terminal sedation, while among the residents, 66 percent agreed with the practice. In both groups, about one-third of respondents supported physician-assisted suicide, in theory, as "ethically appropriate" in certain circumstances. The practice is legal only in Oregon, not in Connecticut or other states.
While general attitudes toward end-of-life care were similar among doctors in training and doctors who had been in practice, the ACP study revealed more about the roles that palliative care experience and religious involvement play in physicians' views.
Of the ACP members who supported terminal sedation, nearly two-thirds of them (62 percent) did not support assisted suicide. Analysis revealed physicians were more likely to be for terminal sedation but against assisted suicide if they had either significant experience with dying patients or frequent religious service attendance.
Among ACP physicians who had cared for one to 10 terminally ill patients in the past year, 39 percent disagreed with the notion of assisted suicide. In contrast, among ACP physicians who had cared for 50 or more terminally ill patients in the past year, 68 percent disagreed with assisted suicide.
"It was clear from our statistical analysis that those who had cared for a greater number of terminally patients in the preceding year were more opposed to assisted suicide and also more supportive of terminal sedation," Kaldjian said.
"There seemed to be both a greater willingness to be rigorous in end-of-life care but also
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Contact: Becky Soglin
becky-soglin@uiowa.edu
319-335-6660
University of Iowa
6-Dec-2004