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A systematic review of older adults' request for or attitude toward euthanasia or assisted-suicide.
Journal article

A systematic review of older adults' request for or attitude toward euthanasia or assisted-suicide.

  • Castelli Dransart DA School of Social Work Fribourg, HES-SO University of Applied Sciences and Art Western Switzerland, Switzerland.
  • Lapierre S Department of Psychology, Université du Québec à Trois Rivières, Trois Rivières, Canada.
  • Erlangsen A Danish Research Institute for Suicide Prevention, Mental Health Centre, Copenhagen, Denmark.
  • Canetto SS Department of Psychology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, USA.
  • Heisel M Department of Psychiatry, Western University, Canada.
  • Draper B School of Psychiatry, University of NSW, Sidney Australia, and Eastern Suburbs Older Person's Mental Health Prince of Wales Hospital Randwick, Australia.
  • Lindner R Institute of Social Work, University Kassel, Germany.
  • Richard-Devantoy S Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, and Douglas Mental Health University Institute, Montreal, Canada.
  • Cheung G Department of Psychological Medecine, School of Medecine, University of Auckland, New Zealand.
  • Scocco P ULSS-6 Euganea and SOPROXI Onlus, Padova, Italy.
  • Gusmão R Public Healh Institute, University of Porto, Portugal.
  • De Leo D Australian Institute for Suicide Research and Prevention, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia.
  • Inoue K Research and Education Faculty, Medical Sciences Cluster Health Service Center, Kochi University, Japan.
  • De Techterman V School of Social Work Fribourg, HES-SO University of Applied Sciences and Art Western Switzerland, Switzerland.
  • Fiske A Department of Psychology, West Virginia University, USA.
  • Hong JP Department of Psychiatry, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Republic of Korea.
  • Landry M Department of Nursing, Université du Québec à Trois Rivières, Canada.
  • Lepage AA Department of Psychology, Université du Québec à Trois Rivières, Trois Rivières, Canada.
  • Marcoux I Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada.
  • Na PJ Department of Psychiatry, New York University Langone Health, USA.
  • Neufeld E Department of Psychoeducation, Université de Sherbrooke, Montréal, Canada.
  • Ummel D Unit for Suicide Prevention, Aalborg University Hospital, Denmark.
  • Winslov JH Caritas Singapore, Singapore.
  • Wong C Department of Sociology and Work Science, University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
  • Wu J Unit of Geropsychiatry, Clinique Saint Antoine, Montarnaud, France.
  • Wyart M
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  • 2019-12-11
Published in:
  • Aging & mental health. - 2019
Attitudes
decisions
euthanasia
older adults
physician-assisted suicide
English Objectives: Prevalence rates of death by euthanasia (EUT) and physician-assisted suicide (PAS) have increased among older adults, and public debates on these practices are still taking place. In this context, it seemed important to conduct a systematic review of the predictors (demographic, physical health, psychological, social, quality of life, religious, or existential) associated with attitudes toward, wishes and requests for, as well as death by EUT/PAS among individuals aged 60 years and over.Method: The search for quantitative studies in PsycINFO and MEDLINE databases was conducted three times from February 2016 until April 2018. Articles of probable relevance (n = 327) were assessed for eligibility. Studies that only presented descriptive data (n = 306) were excluded.Results: This review identified 21 studies with predictive analyses, but in only 4 did older adults face actual end-of-life decisions. Most studies (17) investigated attitudes toward EUT/PAS (9 through hypothetical scenarios). Younger age, lower religiosity, higher education, and higher socio-economic status were the most consistent predictors of endorsement of EUT/PAS. Findings were heterogeneous with regard to physical health, psychological, and social factors. Findings were difficult to compare across studies because of the variety of sample characteristics and outcomes measures.Conclusion: Future studies should adopt common and explicit definitions of EUT/PAS, as well as research designs (e.g. mixed longitudinal) that allow for better consideration of personal, social, and cultural factors, and their interplay, on EUT/PAS decisions.
Language
  • English
Open access status
closed
Identifiers
Persistent URL
https://sonar.ch/global/documents/31643
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