Lindblad Anna, Löfmark Rurik, Lynöe Niels
Unit of Medical Ethics, LIME, Karolinska Institutet, SE-171 77 Stockholm, Sweden.
Scand J Public Health. 2008 Sep;36(7):720-7. doi: 10.1177/1403494808090163.
To investigate the attitudes of Swedish physicians towards physician-assisted suicide.
A postal questionnaire on the respondent's opinion of physician-assisted suicide was sent to a randomly selected sample of physicians in Sweden. The respondents were given the opportunity of furnishing arguments of their own and of prioritizing arguments. They were also asked about possible influence on their own and patients' trust in the healthcare system if physician-assisted suicide was to be legally accepted.
1,200 physicians from six specialties, approximately 200 individuals each in: general practice, geriatrics, internal medicine, oncology, psychiatry and surgery.
The study was commissioned by the Swedish Medical Society and its logo was printed on questionnaires and envelopes.
The total response rate was 74%, ranging between 63%-80% among the specialties. On average 34% were pro physician-assisted suicide, 39% against it and 25% were doubtful; 2% per cent did not respond to the question at all. Psychiatrists were significantly more accepting than oncologists, who were the most restrictive specialty. Older physicians (>50 years) provided a significantly more accepting attitude than younger ones (<or=51 years).
Despite the fact that the World Medical Association condemns physician-assisted suicide as unethical, the present survey indicates that there is no clear majority for or against physician-assisted suicide among Swedish physicians, and that significantly more elderly physicians have an accepting attitude towards physician-assisted suicide. There is a need for further research explaining the differences between the age groups as well as the variation between specialities.
调查瑞典医生对医生协助自杀的态度。
向瑞典随机抽取的医生样本邮寄一份关于受访者对医生协助自杀看法的问卷。受访者有机会阐述自己的观点并对各种观点进行排序。他们还被问及如果医生协助自杀被法律认可，对他们自己以及患者对医疗系统信任度可能产生的影响。
来自六个专业的1200名医生，普通科、老年医学科、内科、肿瘤科、精神科和外科各约200人。
该研究由瑞典医学协会委托进行，协会标志印在问卷和信封上。
总回复率为74%，各专业回复率在63% - 80%之间。平均34%的人支持医生协助自杀，39%反对，25%持怀疑态度；2%的人完全未回答该问题。精神科医生比肿瘤科医生的接受程度明显更高，肿瘤科是限制最为严格的专业。年长医生（>50岁）比年轻医生（≤51岁）的接受态度明显更积极。
尽管世界医学协会谴责医生协助自杀不道德，但本次调查表明，瑞典医生中对于医生协助自杀并没有明确的多数支持或反对意见，而且明显更多的年长医生对医生协助自杀持接受态度。有必要进一步研究解释年龄组之间的差异以及各专业之间的差异。
