Attitudes towards euthanasia among physicians, nurses and the general public in Finland

The object of this study was to investigate the attitudes of physicians, nurses and the general public to physician-assisted suicide (PAS), active voluntary euthanasia (AVE) and passive euthanasia (PE) in Finland. Respondents received a postal questionnaire to evaluate the acceptability of euthanasia in five scenarios, which were imaginary patient cases. Age, severity of pain and prognosis of the disease were presented as background factors in these scenarios. This work was carried out in Finland in 1998. The respondents include a random selection of 814 physicians (506 responded, 62%), 800 nurses (582 responded, 68%) and 1000 representatives of the general public (587 responded, 59%). Thirty-four percent of the physicians, 46% of the nurses and 50% of the general public agreed that euthanasia would be acceptable in some situations. Of the scenarios, PE was most often considered acceptable in cases of severe dementia (physicians 88%, nurses 79% and general public 64%). In the same scenario, 8% of physicians, 23% of nurses and 48% of general public accepted AVE. In the scenario of an incurable cancer, 20% of the physicians, 34% of the nurses and 42% of the general public accepted PAS. All forms of euthanasia were generally more acceptable in older, than in younger, scenario patients. This paper conclude that PE was largely accepted among Finnish medical professionals and the general public. Only a minority favored AVE and PAS.