French laypeople's and health professionals' views on the acceptability of terminal sedation

Aim To study the views on the acceptability of terminal sedation (TS) of laypeople and health professionals in France.Method In November 2013-June 2015, 223 laypeople and 53 health professionals (21 physicians and 32) judged the acceptability of TS in 48 realistic scenarios composed of all combinati...

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Autori: Mazoyer, Julie (Autore) ; Muñoz Sastre, María Teresa (Autore) ; Sorum, Paul Clay (Autore) ; Mullet, Etienne (Autore)
Tipo di documento: Elettronico Articolo
Lingua:Inglese
Verificare la disponibilità: HBZ Gateway
Interlibrary Loan:Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany)
Pubblicazione: 2016
In: Journal of medical ethics
Anno: 2016, Volume: 42, Fascicolo: 10, Pagine: 627-631
Accesso online: Volltext (JSTOR)
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Riepilogo:Aim To study the views on the acceptability of terminal sedation (TS) of laypeople and health professionals in France.Method In November 2013-June 2015, 223 laypeople and 53 health professionals (21 physicians and 32) judged the acceptability of TS in 48 realistic scenarios composed of all combinations of four factors: (a) the patients' life expectancy, (b) their request for sedation, (c) the decision-making process and (d) the type of sedation. In all scenarios, the patients were women with a terminal illness suffering from intractable pain and receiving the best possible care. The ratings were subjected to cluster analysis and analyses of variance.Results Five qualitatively different positions were found that were termed TS acceptable if decision taken collectively (15%), TS acceptable if patient explicitly requested it (19%), TS acceptable if patient did not explicitly oppose it (47%), 24-hour sedation not acceptable (6%) and TS always acceptable (13%). The percentage of older participants in the ‘always acceptable’ cluster was higher than the percentage of younger participants.Conclusions Laypeople and health professionals do not appear to be systematically opposed to TS. The most important factors in increasing its acceptability were the patients' request for sedation and the collective character of the decision-making process.
ISSN:1473-4257
Comprende:Enthalten in: Journal of medical ethics
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1136/medethics-2016-103456