Opinions on palliative sedation in different circumstances
| To relieve the patient from suffering, % | To relieve the patient from suffering, % | To hasten death, % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Life expectancy | 1 week (n = 974) | 1 month (n = 471) | 1 month (n = 515) |
| Personally agreeing with the physician’s act | 81 | 74a | 79 |
| The physician’s act is legal in the Netherlands | 76 | 69 | 67 |
| How would you label the physician’s act? | |||
| Pain and/or symptom management | 17 | 13 | 12 |
| Palliative sedation | 41 | 38 | 40 |
| Stopping with treatment | 14 | 19 | 17 |
| Euthanasia | 18 | 19 | 21 |
| Euthanasia without request from a patient | 2 | 4 | 3 |
| Different | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Don’t know | 8 | 7 | 6 |
↵a Significantly different with respect to 1 week, P<0.05, based on χ2 test.