Norum J, Leknes M
Kreftavdelingen, Regionsykehuset, Tromsø.
Tidsskr Nor Laegeforen. 1999 Feb 28;119(6):796-8.
Euthanasia is clinical practice in several countries world-wide. Cancer patients' attitude in this field was focused through a review of case reports and questionnaire-based studies on Medline (1992-97). A total of nine publications including 459 cancer patients from USA, Canada and Holland were found. The majority of patients had poor performance status and advanced disease. At least one third reported themselves positive to euthanasia. Patients below 50 years of age, having superior performance status and not considering themselves religious, more frequently supported euthanasia. Psychological factors seem to be more significant than physical factors for support of euthanasia. Loss of control, being a burden on one's family and loss of dignity are the psychological factors most frequently reported. A "help to live" approach aimed at avoiding patient requests for help to die will mean that health care workers must allocate more of their time to these patients. Overcrowded hospitals with several patients in corridors and lack of nursing-homebeds do not make this situation easier to handle.
安乐死在世界上多个国家都是临床实践。通过对Medline（1992 - 1997年）上基于病例报告和问卷调查的研究进行综述，聚焦了癌症患者在这一领域的态度。共发现9篇出版物，涉及来自美国、加拿大和荷兰的459名癌症患者。大多数患者的身体状况较差且病情已发展到晚期。至少三分之一的患者表示自己对安乐死持肯定态度。50岁以下、身体状况较好且不认为自己有宗教信仰的患者更频繁地支持安乐死。心理因素在支持安乐死方面似乎比身体因素更为重要。失去控制、成为家庭负担以及失去尊严是最常被提及的心理因素。一种旨在避免患者寻求安乐死帮助的“帮助生存”方法意味着医护人员必须为这些患者分配更多时间。医院过度拥挤，走廊里有多名患者，且缺乏疗养院床位，这使得这种情况更难处理。
