TY - JOUR T1 - Opinions of the Dutch public on palliative sedation: a mixed-methods approach JF - British Journal of General Practice JO - Br J Gen Pract SP - e676 LP - e682 DO - 10.3399/bjgp13X673685 VL - 63 IS - 615 AU - Hilde TH van der Kallen AU - Natasja JH Raijmakers AU - Judith AC Rietjens AU - Alex A van der Male AU - Herman J Bueving AU - Johannes JM van Delden AU - Agnes van der Heide Y1 - 2013/10/01 UR - http://bjgp.org/content/63/615/e676.abstract N2 - Background Palliative sedation is defined as deliberately lowering a patient’s consciousness, to relieve intolerable suffering from refractory symptoms at the end of life. Palliative sedation is considered a last resort intervention in end-of-life care that should not be confused with euthanasia.Aim To inform healthcare professionals about attitudes of the general public regarding palliative sedation.Design and setting A cross-sectional survey among members of the Dutch general public followed by qualitative interviews.Method One thousand nine hundred and sixty members of the general public completed the questionnaire, which included a vignette describing palliative sedation (response rate 78%); 16 participants were interviewed.Results In total, 22% of the responders indicated knowing the term ‘palliative sedation’. Qualitative data showed a variety of interpretations of the term. Eighty-one per cent of the responders agreed with the provision of sedatives as described in a vignette of a patient with untreatable pain and a life expectancy of <1 week who received sedatives to alleviate his suffering. This percentage was somewhat lower for a patient with a life expectancy of <1 month (74%, P = 0.007) and comparable in the case where the physician gave sedatives with the aim of ending the patient’s life (79%, P = 0.54).Conclusion Most of the general public accept the use of palliative sedation at the end of life, regardless of a potential life-shortening effect. However, confusion exists about what palliative sedation represents. This should be taken into account by healthcare professionals when communicating with patients and their relatives on end-of-life care options. ER -