Care considerations in medical assistance in dying for persons with mental illness as the sole underlying medical condition: a qualitative study of patient and family perspectives

Table 1 Participant characteristics

Characteristic		Patients sample (N = 30) n (%)	Family member sample (N = 25) n (%)
Age	18–34	12 (40.0)	7 (28.0)
	35–54	10 (33.3)	8 (32.0)
	55+	8 (26.7)	10 (40.0)
Gender	Man	12 (40.0)	3 (12.0)
	Woman	15 (50.0)	20 (80.0)
	Transgender/Gender non-binary	3 (10.0)	2 (8.0)
Ethnicity	White	18 (60.0)	18 (72.0)
	Racialized¹	12 (40.0)	7 (28.0)
Born in Canada		22 (73.3)	21 (84.0)
Identifies with religious or spiritual beliefs		16 (53.3)	16 (64.0)
Housing status²	Stable housing	21 (70.0)	n/a
	Precarious housing	9 (30.0)	n/a
Physical health	Good to excellent	19 (63.3)	19 (76.0)
	Fair to poor	11 (36.7)	6 (24.0)
Mental health	Good to excellent	16 (53.3)	18 (72.0)
	Fair to poor	14 (46.7)	7 (28.0)
Mental illness²	Trauma experiences or trauma- and stressor-related disorders	11 (36.7)	n/a
	Anxiety disorders or related symptoms	15 (50.0)	n/a
	Obsessive-compulsive and related disorders, or related symptoms	9 (30.0)	n/a
	Depressive disorders or related symptoms	19 (63.3)	n/a
	Bipolar and related disorders, or related symptoms	5 (16.7)	n/a
	Personality disorders	6 (20.0)	n/a
	Schizophrenia spectrum and psychotic disorders, or related symptoms	6 (20.0)	n/a
	Neurodevelopmental disorders, or related symptoms	5 (16.7)	n/a
	Other disorders or symptoms⁵	4 (13.3)	n/a
Substance use³	Past or present use of alcohol, including problematic use	6 (20.0)	n/a
	Past or present use of other substances, including problematic use, or substance not specified²	4 (13.3)	n/a
History of self-harm or suicidality³		20 (66.7)	n/a

¹Reported in aggregate due to small cell sizes
²Not all participants described mental illness using specific diagnostic labels. This information is therefore grouped into categories of mental disorders and related symptoms. Percentages exceed 100% due to reported comorbidities

ISSN: 1471-244X