[Between self-determination and role abdication: opinions about euthanasia -- results of a study of Thuringians palliative tumour patients].

This study reports the degree to which terminally ill tumour patients wish to be involved in medical decisions about their care and death. In addition, the study aimed to examine euthanasia from the patient's perspective. 272 tumour patients with a life expectancy of less that 1 year took part in a face to face survey. The survey examined attitudes, beliefs and desires with respect to euthanasia, where one would like to die and who should be present as well as attitudes to advance directives. The majority of tumour patients (75 %) wanted to die at home and in the presence of family members (90 %). A multidimensional scaling analysis generated two clusters which were interpreted as self-other determination and integration-non-integration as a patient within the health system. The central theme for the tumour patients is to protect their autonomy in the decision making process at the end of their lives. Desires expressed by these tumour patients did not reflect public discussions about active, passive or indirect assisted suicide. The results demonstrate that doctors should communicate especially sensitively with tumour patients and their relatives.