Rahimian Zahra, Rahimian Leila, Lopez-Castroman Jorge, Ostovarfar Jeyran, Fallahi Mohammad J, Nayeri Mohammad A, Vardanjani Hossein M
Student Research Committee Shiraz University of Medical Sciences Shiraz Iran.
MD-MPH Department, School of Medicine Shiraz University of Medical Sciences Shiraz Iran.
Health Sci Rep. 2024 Mar 20;7(3):e1978. doi: 10.1002/hsr2.1978. eCollection 2024 Mar.
Euthanasia is a controversial issue related to the right to die. Although euthanasia is mostly requested by terminally sick individuals, even in societies where it is legal, it is unclear what medical conditions lead to euthanasia requests. In this scoping review, we aimed to compile medical conditions for which euthanasia has been requested or performed around the world.
The review was preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analysis for scoping reviews (PRISMA-ScR) checklist. Retrieved search results were screened and unrelated documents were excluded. Data on reasons for conducting or requesting euthanasia along with the study type, setting, and publication year were extracted from documents. Human development index and euthanasia legality were also extracted. Major medical fields were used to categorize reported reasons. Group discussions were conducted if needed for this categorization. An electronic search was undertaken in MEDLINE through PubMed for published documents covering the years January 2000 to September 2022.
Out of 3323 records, a total of 197 papers were included. The most common medical conditions in euthanasia requests are cancer in a terminal phase (45.4%), Alzheimer's disease and dementia (19.8%), constant unbearable physical or mental suffering (19.8%), treatment-resistant mood disorders (12.2%), and advanced cardiovascular disorders (12.2%).
Reasons for euthanasia are mostly linked to chronic or terminal physical conditions. Psychiatric disorders also lead to a substantial proportion of euthanasia requests. This review can help to identify the features shared by conditions that lead to performing or requesting euthanasia.
安乐死是一个与死亡权相关的争议性问题。尽管安乐死大多由身患绝症的人提出请求，即便在其合法化的社会中，导致安乐死请求的医学状况仍不明确。在本范围综述中，我们旨在汇总世界各地曾被请求实施或已实施安乐死的医学状况。
本综述采用系统综述和范围综述的首选报告项目（PRISMA-ScR）清单。对检索到的搜索结果进行筛选，排除无关文档。从文档中提取关于实施或请求安乐死的原因以及研究类型、背景和发表年份的数据。还提取了人类发展指数和安乐死合法性信息。使用主要医学领域对报告的原因进行分类。如有必要，为此分类进行小组讨论。通过PubMed在MEDLINE中进行电子搜索，查找2000年1月至2022年9月期间发表的文献。
在3323条记录中，共纳入197篇论文。安乐死请求中最常见的医学状况是终末期癌症（45.4%）、阿尔茨海默病和痴呆症（19.8%）、持续无法忍受的身心痛苦（19.8%）、难治性情绪障碍（12.2%）和晚期心血管疾病（12.2%）。
安乐死的原因大多与慢性或终末期身体状况有关。精神疾病也导致了相当比例的安乐死请求。本综述有助于识别导致实施或请求安乐死的状况所共有的特征。
