Allgemeinärztliche Beurteilungen und Einstellungen zur Sterbehilfe

Abstract

Objective: To describe the attitudes of German general practitioners (GPs) concerning euthanasia. Design: Nation-wide anonymous postal questionnaire survey. Methods: 500 GPs from all parts of Germany were randomly selected from telephone listings and were sent a postal questionnaire with anonymous return envelopes. Participants were asked to make decisions based on hypothetical scenarios involving terminally ill patients and were also questioned about their attitudes towards euthanasia. Results: The questionnaire was returned by 233 out of 481 eligible GPs (response rate 48%). Although the option of performing euthanasia was rarely chosen in hypothetical scenarios, the performance of active and passive euthanasia was considered acceptable by 35% and 80% of respondents respectively. Unrelievable pain and dying with dignity were the arguments stated most frequently in favour of euthanasia, whereas the availability of palliative care and the potential for misuse of euthanasia were arguments cited most often against it. 79% of respondents believed that a comparison between euthanasia today and the atrocities committed during the 3rd Reich was not appropriate. 62% of respondents had received requests for active euthanasia and 73% for passive euthanasia. 13% of respondents said that they had performed active euthanasia themselves and 38% had been involved in passive euthanasia. Asked about their readiness to perform euthanasia if legal conditions were to permit this in Germany, 18% and 59% of respondents said they would be willing to carry out active and passive euthanasia, respectively. Conclusions: The majority of German GPs reject euthanasia and prefer palliative care, nonetheless, requests for and performance of euthanasia do not seem to be a rare occurrence. Only a small proportion of respondents are willing to perform euthanasia at a patient s request under the current legislation which makes these acts illegal in Germany. A majority of respondents felt that a legal framework was necessary to guide medical decisions at the end of life. German history seems to play only a minor role in shaping respondents attitudes towards euthanasia.