Physician Assisted Suicide: A Scale and Some Empirical Findings

Abstract

A twelve-item scale to measure attitudes toward physician assisted suicide is presented. The scale was developed by considering the existing literature and consulting with both professionals and lay persons. An initial version of the scale was pilot tested on three samples (physicians, elderly medical patients, and graduate students in a geriatrics program). An initial pool of thirty-seven items were administered to college students and twelve items that met specific criteria were retained. The twelve-item scale was then administered to three samples of participants: college students (n = 118), caregivers (n = 30), severely ill elderly (n = 21). For all three samples, the scale showed substantial internal consistency with alpha indices ranging in the low .90s. The results indicate that the most favorable attitudes are held by those the furthest removed from considering the possibility of physician assisted suicide; the most elderly perceive such assistance as least acceptable.