Knowledge, awareness and attitude of health profession students of KSAU-HS towards euthanasia

Abstract

Summary Objectives Euthanasia, i.e. Physician Assisted Suicide, is a highly taboo topic, which has grown unusually over the past decade in concomitance with swift advancement in medical care of terminally ill patients. The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge, awareness and attitude of Health Professions Students (HPSs) towards Euthanasia. Methods This cross-sectional study was carried out in all Colleges of King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences (KSAU-HS), Jeddah Campus was conducted from November & December 2019. A predesigned questionnaire written in English containing essential elements about Euthanasia was adopted to achieve the purpose of the study. Results A total of 522 students responded positively to the dispensed survey. 290 (55.6%) of respondents were males while 232 (44.4%) were females with a ratio of 1:1.25. We found that majority of HPSs (57%, n = 298) were aware of the term euthanasia and the concept behind it. 65.1% (340) of the HPSs understood the accepted definition of euthanasia as “Physician Assisted Suicide”. However, only 19.9% (104) of HPSs agreed to ever favor euthanasia if given a choice while 47.9% (250) of them disagreed. Also, majority of them (61.4% among males and 51.7% among females) agreed that practicing religion influenced their responses to this survey. Conclusions The awareness about the euthanasia was fairly good among HPSs of KSAU-HS however this study identifies a dire need of introducing the bioethical concepts of practicing euthanasia and the legal issues surrounding it within the curriculum.