Table 4.
Responses of physicians with or without special qualification in palliative care or pain medicine
| Question | Answer | Special qualification in palliative care n (%) | No special qualification in palliative care n (%) | Special qualification in pain medicine n (%) | No special qualification in pain medicine n (%) | No special qualification in either palliative care or pain medicine n (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. A patient has an incurable, painful illness, from which they will die, for example cancer. Would you fulfill his wish and end his life using medication? | Yes | 4 (3.7)** | 10 (11.2)** | 5 (8.3) | 9 (6.5) | 6 (12.8) |
| No | 99 (90.8)** | 65 (73.0)** | 49 (81.7) | 115 (83.3) | 35 (74.5) | |
| I don’t know | 6 (5.5)** | 14 (15.7)** | 6 (10.0) | 14 (10.1) | 6 (12.8) | |
| 2. If this patient asks for it, would you give him lethal medication so that he can end his own life? | Yes | 13 (11.9) | 18 (20.2) | 14 (23.3) | 17 (12.3) | 9 (19.1) |
| No | 76 (69.7) | 60 (67.4) | 39 (65.0) | 97 (70.3) | 32 (68.1) | |
| I don’t know | 20 (18.3) | 11 (12.4) | 7 (11.7) | 24 (17.4) | 6 (12.8) | |
| 3. A patient has an incurable, painful illness, from which they will not die. Would you fulfill his wish and end his life using medication? | Yes | 2 (1.8) | 2 (2.2) | 1 (1.7) | 3 (2.2) | 2 (4.3) |
| No | 103 (94.5) | 78 (87.6) | 56 (93.3) | 125 (90.6) | 39 (83.0) | |
| I don’t know | 4 (3.7) | 9 (10.1) | 3 (5.0) | 10 (7.2) | 6 (12.8) | |
| 4. If this patient asks for it, would you give him lethal medication so that he can end his own life? | Yes | 4 (3.7) | 4 (4.5) | 2 (3.3) | 6 (4.3) | 3 (6.4) |
| No | 99 (90.8) | 78 (87.6) | 54 (90.0) | 123 (89.1) | 40 (85.1) | |
| I don’t know | 6 (5.5) | 7 (7.9) | 4 (6.7) | 9 (6.5) | 4 (8.5) |
**p ≤0.001 (regarding physicians with and without special qualification in palliative care)