European public acceptance of euthanasia: Socio-demographic and cultural factors associated with the acceptance of euthanasia in 33 European countries
European public acceptance of euthanasia: Socio-demographic and cultural factors associated with the acceptance of euthanasia in 33 European countries
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DOI：
10.1016/j.socscimed.2006.01.026
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发表时间：
2006-08-01
影响因子：
5.4
通讯作者：
Deliens, Luc
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Cohen, Joachim;Marcoux, Isabelle;Deliens, Luc
在许多欧洲国家，过去的十年中，关于安乐死和其他临终医疗决定的可接受性和监管的争论越来越多。公众对绝症患者“死亡权”的敏感性日益增加，这是这些辩论的主要组成部分之一。在此背景下。我们试图描述和比较33个欧洲国家公众对安乐死的接受程度。我们使用了1999-2000年欧洲价值观研究的数据，共有41 125名受访者（63%的回应率）在33个欧洲国家。主要结果指标涉及对安乐死的接受程度（定义为“终止无法治愈的病人的生命”，从I到10分）。结果显示，在一些国家（例如荷兰、丹麦、法国、瑞典），对安乐死的接受程度往往很高，而在其他国家（例如罗马尼亚），接受程度明显较低。马耳他和土耳其）。多变量有序回归表明，较弱的宗教信仰是与较高的接受度相关的最重要因素：然而，也有社会人口统计学差异：年轻的队列。非体力劳动阶层、文化程度较高者对安乐死的接受程度较高。而宗教信仰。虽然社会人口因素和道德价值观（即对自决权的信仰）可以在很大程度上解释国家之间的差异，但我们的研究结果表明，对安乐死的看法可能也受到国家传统和历史的影响（例如德国）。因此，我们在接受安乐死方面表现出了明显的跨国差异，这可以作为在特定国家进一步辩论和研究的重要基础。(c)2006爱思唯尔有限公司保留所有权利。
In many European countries, the last decade has been marked by an increasing debate about the acceptability and regulation'of euthanasia and other end-of-life decisions in medical practice. Growing public sensibility to a 'right to die' for terminally ill patients has been one of the main constituents of these debates. Within this context. we sought to describe and compare acceptance of euthanasia among the general public in 33 European countries. We used the European Values Study data of 1999-2000 with a total of 41 125 respondents (63% response rate) in 33 European countries. The main outcome measure concerned the acceptance of euthanasia (defined as 'terminating the life of the incurably sick', rated on a scale from I to 10).Results showed that the acceptance of euthanasia tended to be high in some Countries (e.g. the Netherlands, Denmark, France, Sweden), while a markedly low acceptance was found in others (e.g. Romania. Malta and Turkey). A multivariate ordinal regression showed that weaker religious belief was the most important factor associated with a higher acceptance: however, there were also socio-demographic differences: younger cohorts. people from non-manual social classes, and people with a higher educational level tended to have a higher acceptance of euthanasia. While religious belief. sociodemographic factors, and also moral values (i.e. the belief in the right to self-determination) could largely explain the differences between countries, our findings suggest that perceptions regarding euthanasia are probably also influenced by national traditions and history (e.g. Germany). Thus, we demonstrated clear cross-national differences with regard to the acceptance of euthanasia, which can serve as an important basis for further debate and research in the specific countries. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.