Belgian psychiatrists' attitudes towards, and readiness to engage in, euthanasia assessment procedures with adults with psychiatric conditions: a survey

Monica Verhofstadt, Kurt Audenaert, Kris Van den Broeck, Luc Deliens, Freddy Mortier, Koen Titeca, Koen Pardon, Kenneth Chambaere

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18 Citaten (Scopus)
133 Downloads (Pure)

Samenvatting

BACKGROUND: Although the Belgian assessment pathway for legal euthanasia requires the engagement of at least one psychiatrist, little is known about psychiatrists' attitudes towards euthanasia for adults with psychiatric conditions (APC). This study aims to gauge psychiatrists' attitudes towards and readiness to engage in euthanasia assessment and/or performance procedures in APC.

METHODS: This cross-sectional survey study was performed between November 2018 and April 2019. The survey was sent to a sample of 499 eligible psychiatrists affiliated to the Flemish Association for Psychiatry, a professional association that aims to unite and represent all psychiatrists working in Flanders, the Dutch-speaking, northern part of Belgium. The Association's members comprise an estimated 80-90% of all psychiatrists active in Flanders. Only psychiatrists working with APC (83% of the association's total membership) were included. Factorial Anova and Chi Square tests were performed to examine if and to what extent psychiatrists' backgrounds were associated with, respectively, their attitudes and their readiness to play a role in euthanasia procedures concerning APC.

RESULTS: One hundred eighty-four psychiatrists completed the questionnaire (response rate 40.2%); 74.5% agree that euthanasia should remain permissible for APC. However, 68.9% question some of the approaches taken by other physicians during the euthanasia assessment and only half consider euthanasia assessment procedures compatible with the psychiatric care relationship. Where active engagement is concerned, an informal referral (68%) or preliminary advisory role (43.8%) is preferred to a formal role as a legally required advising physician (30.3%), let alone as performing physician (< 10%).

CONCLUSION: Although three quarters agree with maintaining the legal option of euthanasia for APC, their readiness to take a formal role in euthanasia procedures appears to be limited. More insight is required into the barriers preventing engagement and what psychiatrists need, be it education or clarification of the legal requirements, to ensure that patients can have their euthanasia requests assessed adequately.

Originele taal-2English
Artikelnummer374
TijdschriftBMC Psychiatry
Volume20
Nummer van het tijdschrift1
DOI's
StatusPublished - 16 jul 2020

Bibliografische nota

Funding Information:
MV is funded by the Research Foundation Flanders via research project (G017818N) and PhD fellowship (1162618 N). Research Foundation Flanders had no active role in the design of this specific study and data collection, nor in the analysis and interpretation of data, nor in the writing of the manuscript.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 The Author(s).

Copyright:
Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

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