A decade beyond medical school: a longitudinal study of physicians' attitudes toward death and terminally-ill patients.

Physicians were surveyed soon after graduation from medical school in 1976 to determine their attitudes toward death and terminally-ill patients and their families. A follow-up survey of the 1093 respondents was made in 1986 to ascertain if changes had occurred in their attitudes. Eight of the eleven Likert-type items showed statistically significant differences over time and by attitudes toward terminally-ill patients and their families. These data present evidence to suggest that physicians in 1986 were more open in telling dying patients their prognosis than in 1976.