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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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Prevalence of depression and anxiety in patients requesting physicians' aid in dying
— cross sectional survey | | Author(s) | Linda Ganzini, Elizabeth R Goy, Steven K Dobscha |
| Journal title | British Medical Journal, vol 337, no 7676, 25 October 2008 |
| Pages | pp 973-983 |
| Source | www.bmj.com |
| Keywords | Terminal illness ; Depression ; Anxiety ; Death ; Euthanasia ; Cross sectional surveys ; United States of America. |
| Annotation | 58 Oregonians, most terminally ill with cancer or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, who had either requested aid in dying from a physician or contacted an aid in dying advocacy organisation participated in this cross sectional survey. Diagnosis for depression or anxiety was ascertained according to the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the structured clinical interview for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. 15 participants met "caseness" criteria for depression, and 13 for anxiety. 42 died by the end of the study; 18 received a prescription for a lethal drug under the Death with Dignity Act; and 9 died by lethal ingestion. 15 participants who received a prescription for a lethal drug did not meet criteria for depression; three did. All three depressed participants died by a legal ingestion within two months of the research interview. Although most terminally ill Oregonians who receive aid in dying did not have depressive disorders, the current practice of the Death with Dignity Act may fail to protect some patients whose choices are influenced by depression from receiving a prescription for a lethal drug. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-081030204 A |
| Classmark | CV: ENR: ENP: CW: CY: 3KB: 7T * |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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