Pomfret Suzie, Mufti Shaya, Seale Clive
Imperial NHS Healthcare Trust, London, UK.
Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, London, UK.
Future Healthc J. 2018 Feb;5(1):25-29. doi: 10.7861/futurehosp.5-1-25.
The objective of this study was to see if medical students' attitudes about medically assisted dying were influenced by their religious background and current beliefs. A cohort study was conducted using a self-completion study questionnaire in a large UK medical school. In total, 400 out of 505 questionnaires were completed (79%). The study population's characteristics are summarised as follows: mean age 22.7 years (range 18-44); 68.5% believe in god, 31.5% have no belief in god; religious background: Christian 45%, Hindu 16.5%, Muslim 22%, Other 10% and None 7%. The majority of students did not agree with euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide in the study scenario. Those who had a belief in god were more likely to disagree with actions that hasten death. The findings show this was particularly the case with students from a Muslim background. Gender was not related to overall agreement with actions that hasten death; being older, a finalist and a graduate were weakly associated with a greater likelihood of agreeing with such acts. This is an important issue which warrants further enquiry. The demographics of the UK medical population continue to shift, containing a higher proportion of people from Asia and with Asian British backgrounds than the general population. This study provides us with a basis for further exploration of the potential for disparity between the opinions of the UK population and those of medical workers and trainees, and how that might inform decisions about patient care at the end of life.
本研究的目的是探讨医学生对医疗协助死亡的态度是否受到其宗教背景和当前信仰的影响。在英国一所大型医学院进行了一项队列研究，采用自填式调查问卷。总共505份问卷中有400份完成（79%）。研究人群的特征总结如下：平均年龄22.7岁（范围18 - 44岁）；68.5%的人信仰上帝，31.5%的人不信仰上帝；宗教背景：基督教45%，印度教16.5%，穆斯林22%，其他10%，无宗教信仰7%。在研究场景中，大多数学生不同意安乐死和医生协助自杀。有宗教信仰的人更有可能不同意加速死亡的行为。研究结果表明，来自穆斯林背景的学生尤其如此。性别与对加速死亡行为的总体认同无关；年龄较大、处于最后一年学习阶段和已毕业与更有可能认同此类行为的关联较弱。这是一个值得进一步探究的重要问题。英国医学人群的人口统计学特征持续变化，与普通人群相比，亚洲人和具有亚裔英国背景的人所占比例更高。本研究为我们进一步探讨英国普通人群与医护人员及实习生意见之间潜在差异的可能性，以及这如何为临终患者护理决策提供参考奠定了基础。
