Obotligt, dödligt sjuka patienters inställningar till eutanasi och bidragande faktorer till deras inställning : Beskrivande litteraturstudie

Sammanfattning: Background: Active euthanasia is legal in Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. In Switzerland, Estonia and the states of Wasington and Oregon in USA are only doctor-assisted euthanasia legal. When patient’s receive a diagnosis of a terminall illness studies shows that various kinds of suffering, pain, religion and feeling that you are dependent on relatives are factors which affect people's quality of life and attitude to euthanasia. Some patients want to end their life while others want to manage their lives. There are disagreements about whether euthanasia could be a option. Aim: To describe the attitude of patients with an incurable terminal illness has to euthanasia and what factors as affecting their attitude. The aim is also to describe the research group in the articles. Method: A descriptive design has been used in this litterature study. Twelve articles have been used, seven Qualitative and five Quantitative. Results: The results depends on various factors such as pain, religion, depression, physical function and suffering. These factors affected the patient’s attitudes towards euthanasia. The composition of the articles emerge that 680 patients were positive to euthanasia, 483 patients were against, and 34 patients had not answered the question. Conclusion: A positive attitude to euthanasia can be seen clearly in the research of the articles results. However, only one study came from Sweden and therefore the authors think that more research is needed to gain an understanding of patient’s attitude. There are concerns that euthanasia will be miss-used or abused when the patient’s have been asked about their attitudes. [1]Totalt 1197 svarande, 680 patienter för, 483 patienter emot, 34 svarande ej.