Euthanasia:a controversial entity among students of Karachi

Euthanasia:a controversial entity among students of Karachi

Kumar, Ameet
Naqvi, Syeda
Giyanwani, Pirthvi Raj
Yousuf, Fareeha
Masnoon, Aaliya
Bai, Kiran
Kumar, Deepak

7/24/17

English

20170724

Background A serene death may be achieved through skilled and compassionate care, as well as by the dying person's own sense of having lived a righteous life. The purpose of this study is to acquire information about students' knowledge and understanding of euthanasia. Materials and Methods Four hundred and fifty-six students from four classes of two institutions with similar demographic characteristics were included in this cross-sectional study. A questionnaire adapted from a study of 'Gruber, et al.' was distributed among the respondents after obtaining a verbal informed consent. The questionnaire had two parts, first dealing with demographics of respondents, and in the second part students were given different situations and asked about their decision in that particular setting to understand their opinion about euthanasia. Results There were 31.7% medical students and 12.9% non-medical students in favor to provide complete medical information (p < 0.001) while 59.2% non-medical students thought that complete information should be given to a patient if any iatrogenic incident occurred. Same favored by 33.7% of medical students (p < 0.001). The majority of medical students (84.5%) felt that cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) must always be provided (p < 0.001) and this was acceptable more among females (p = 0.001). Furthermore, medical students (57.6%) were more in favor of continuing maximum medical treatment including CPR than non-medical students (42.9%, p = 0.003). A total of 83% non-medical students and 46% medical students found euthanasia an acceptable practice. Conclusion Results show a significant difference in perception of medical and non-medical students regarding euthanasia. Non-medical students are more in favor of euthanasia than medical students. Also, it is observed that males seem to be more inclined towards euthanasia while females are more in favor to provide maximum medical treatment.

20.5.1

20.5.1

attitudes to death--[pri];euthanasia--[pri];students--[pri]

females;iatrogenic disease;males;medical education;medical students;prolongation of life;questionnaire;resuscitation

Pakistan--[pri]

Cureus2017 July 24; 9(7):e1510

Creative Commons License Attribution License. Copyright © 2017, Kumar et al.

citation

22 refs

21688184 (online)