Table 4.
Information reported about the use of life-ending drugs in physician-assisted deaths*
| Information | Physician-assisted death, weighted %* | p value§ | |
|---|---|---|---|
| With patient’s explicit request†n = 142 | Without patient’s explicit request n = 66‡ | ||
| Number of drugs used | 0.038 | ||
| 1 | 33.2 | 51.4 | |
| ≥ 2 | 66.8 | 48.6 | |
| Type of drugs used | < 0.001 | ||
| Muscle relaxant | 0.5 | – | |
| Muscle relaxant and barbiturate | 29.0 | 0.9 | |
| Muscle relaxant and drug other than barbiturate | 6.4 | – | |
| Barbiturate | 9.8 | – | |
| Barbiturate and drug other than muscle relaxant | 9.5 | 1.0 | |
| Opioid | 21.9 | 48.7 | |
| Opioid and drug other than muscle relaxant and barbiturate | 21.9 | 46.6 | |
| Benzodiazepine | 1.0 | 2.7 | |
| Person who administered drugs | 0.018 | ||
| Physician | 69.6 | 47.2 | |
| Physician and nurse | 8.1 | 17.4 | |
| Nurse | 18.9 | 33.8 | |
| Patient | 1.0 | – | |
| Physician and patient | 2.4 | – | |
| Nurse and someone else** | – | 1.6 | |
| Physician present during administration†† | 86.7 | 79.9 | 0.35 |
Percentages are weighted to correct for the disproportionate stratification of deaths and for differences in the distribution of patient characteristics between study sample and all deaths. Percentages may not total 100 because of rounding.
Euthanasia and assisted suicide. Two cases missing for number of drugs used and for drugs used.
One case missing for number of drugs used and for drugs used.
Calculated using Fisher exact test, for comparison between physician-assisted death with and without explicit request from the patient.
Relative of the patient.
Includes cases in which physician administered drugs or was present during administration of drugs by someone else.