Table 1.
Characteristics of the Evaluated Individuals.
| Variable | N (%) |
|---|---|
| Sex | |
| Women | 46 (69.7%) |
| Age group | |
| 30 to 49 years | 16 (24.2%) |
| 50 to 69 years | 29 (43.9%) |
| 70 years and more | 21 (31.8%) |
| Functional dependencya | 31 (47.0%) |
| History of psychological traumab | 15 (22.7%) |
| Social contacts mentioned in the case summaryc | |
| Yes | 22 (33.3%) |
| No | 44 (66.7%) |
| History of treatment refusald | 37 (56.1%) |
| Physical paine | 21 (31.8%) |
| Time from psychiatric disorder onset to EASf | |
| Up to 20 years | 24 (36.4%) |
| 21 to 40 years | 29 (43.9%) |
| More than 40 years | 10 (15.2%) |
| Undetermined | 3 (4.5%) |
| Time from first expression of desire for life termination to EASg | |
| Up to 6 months | 20 (30.3%) |
| 7 months to 1 year | 22 (33.3%) |
| More than 1 year | 23 (34.8%) |
| Undetermined | 1 (1.5%) |
| Lifetime psychiatric conditionsh | |
| Depression | 41 (62.1%) |
| Personality disorderi | 25 (37.9%) |
| Anxiety disorders, other than PTSD | 15 (22.7%) |
| PTSD or posttraumatic residua | 13 (19.7%) |
| Psychotic disorders | 9 (13.6%) |
| Somatoform disorder, including pain disorder | 8 (12.1%) |
| Bipolar disorder | 7 (10.6%) |
| Substance use disorders | 6 (9.1%) |
| Eating disorders | 4 (6.1%) |
| Autism spectrum | 4 (6.1%) |
| Neurocognitive impairment | 2 (3.0%) |
| Other, including prolonged grief, alexithymia, factitious disorder, dissociative disorder, reactive attachment disorder, kleptomania | 8 (12.1%) |
| History of electroconvulsive therapy | 26 (39.4%) |
| Number of psychiatric conditionsj | |
| One | 19 (28.8%) |
| Two | 23 (34.8%) |
| Three or more | 24 (36.4%) |
| History of institutional carek | 58 (87.9%) |
| History of suicide attempt | 34 (51.5%) |
Note. EAS = euthanasia and assisted suicide; PTSD = posttraumatic stress disorder.
a Functional dependency was defined as needing continuous care (e.g., living in supervised settings, indications of constant support from health care or social system).
b Psychological trauma was identified when terms trauma or abuse were used in the case summary.
c Mention of social contacts outside of treatment facilities was based on both patient reports and case summary, including the presence of family/friends during the EAS procedure.
d Refusal to treatment was defined as having refused any treatment modality (pharmacological and nonpharmacological).
e Physical pain was defined as pain with an identifiable physical cause.
f Time from first described psychiatric condition until EAS. As the duration from psychiatric conditions onset was typically described qualitatively and vaguely (e.g., “decades,” “since adolescence”), approximations to decades and typical time of onset for the aforementioned conditions were used in unclear cases.
g First expression of desire for EAS was not necessarily the formal, explicit request that led to EAS.
h Presence of psychiatric conditions was based on both formal and informal (e.g., “depressed”) terms in case summaries. For posttraumatic residua, past trauma played an important role in psychopathology, but the term PTSD was not explicitly used.
i Functioning problems related to personality structure were frequent, but vaguely described, therefore only cases with an explicit statement of personality disorder diagnosis were included in this item.
j Comprises all psychiatric conditions, including personality disorders.
k Includes both acute and chronic care.