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Cancer patients' attitudes to final events in life: Wish for death, attitudes to cessation of treatment, suicide and euthanasia
Author(s) -
Owen Cathy,
Tennant Christopher,
Levi John,
Jones Michael
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
psycho‐oncology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.41
H-Index - 137
eISSN - 1099-1611
pISSN - 1057-9249
DOI - 10.1002/pon.2960030103
Subject(s) - fatalism , autonomy , quality of life (healthcare) , cancer , medicine , assisted suicide , psychiatry , psychology , psychotherapist , law , political science , philosophy , theology
Abstract One hundred patients with cancer were interviewed regarding their attitude to a range of final life events in both their current real and hypothetical future circumstances. Patients who anticipated a future possible role for the more passive options of wishing death to come early or ceasing all treatment, were more hopeless and had a reduced quality of life. Patients however who anticipated a role for the more active options of suicide and/or euthanasia were less fatalistic and did not report a reduced quality of life. The desire for suicide was particularly positively related to younger age, a personal psychiatric past history, and a number of treatment‐related variables reflecting increased patient autonomy.