Abstract
Problem: The medical decisions at the end of life are increasingly gaining significance in modern medicine. Therefore, the attitudes of medical students towards euthanasia are of particular interest.
Method: The aim of the study was to compare the attitudes of 231 medical students from Leipzig and Giessen (Germany) with those of the general population in Germany (1957 subjects) with the use of a specially developed questionnaire. Various ranges of frequency were tested for significance. Basic differences between sociodemographic groups can be seen in subgroups comparisons.
Results: Medical students agreed significantly more often with legal forms of medically assisted death (83.2% indirect; 94% passive euthanasia) than did the general population (63.4% indirect; 71.2% passive euthanasia). The precondition of unreleasable pain was more important for the students than for the general population. In this case the rate of students argument with giving of active euthanasia was 29.3% and the general population was 19.8%. Medical students also indicate having a more paternalistic approach towards the decision making process concerning euthanasia. This is particularly true in comparison with the younger sector of the general population. Students showed an identical reserve as the general population concerning the hypothetical personal utilization of delimited forms of euthanasia.
Conclusions: The interviewed medical students integrate the legal forms of euthanasia with the occupational image of a physician. The desire for paternalistic decision competencies should be discussed and specifically included in the ethical dimension of medical training.
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