Euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide in patients suffering from psychiatric disorders: a cross-sectional study exploring the experiences of Dutch psychiatrists

Table 3 Characteristics of the decision making process: duration of decision-making, consultation and reasons to refuse the request^a

	n = 66
	%	n
Duration decision process
Mean (range)	52 days (0–365)
Consultation
Other physician consulted
No	35.9	23
Yes,	64.1	41
one other physician	40.6	26
two other physicians	17.2	11
three or more other physicians	6.3	4
Specialization of physicians consulted^b	n = 41
SCEN physician	12.2	5
SCEN physician who is also a psychiatrist	9.8	4
Psychiatrist	82.9	34
Other physician	24.4	10
Reasons to refuse request^c	n = 66
The due care requirements were not met	75.4	49
Treatment alternatives had not been exhausted	53.1	34
The suffering was not without prospect of improvement	29.7	19
No voluntary and well-considered request	27.7	18
Suffering was not unbearable	10.9	7
Personal objections to EAS in general	23.1	15
Personal objections specific to the case in question	12.3	8
Objections of the family	1.5	1
Other^d	6.3	4

^aMissing observations varied between and 2 and 6 (3–9%)
^bForty-one psychiatrists consulted another physician and answered this question. More than one answer possible
^cMore than one answer possible, 2 psychiatrists did not provide an explanation for refusing the request. 2 psychiatrists did not specify which due care criteria was not met
^dOther included: ‘contact with the patient provided the patient with prospect /hope after which the patient withdrew the request’, ‘physical suffering was the main issue’ and ‘I do not assist with suicide but I provide advice and services to enhance the practice of EAS’, ‘No experience with performing EAS’

ISSN: 1471-244X