Do German general practitioners support euthanasia? Results of a nation-wide questionnaire survey.

OBJECTIVE To learn more about the attitudes of German general practitioners (GPs) concerning euthanasia and the frequency of its performance in Germany. METHODS 500 GPs from all parts of Germany were randomly selected from telephone listings, and were sent a postal questionnaire with anonymous return envelopes. Participants were asked to make decisions based on hypothetical scenarios involving terminally ill patients and were questioned about their attitudes towards active euthanasia or physician assisted suicide (PAS). RESULTS The questionnaire was returned by 48% of all 481 eligible GPs (mean age 51 years, 68% male). Although the option of performing euthanasia was rarely chosen in hypothetical scenarios, its performance was considered acceptable by 34% (active euthanasia) and 80% (PAS). Seventy-seven percent of respondents believed that a comparison between euthanasia today and the atrocities committed during the 3rd Reich was not appropriate. Sixty-two percent of respondents had received requests for active euthanasia and 73% for PAS. Thirteen percent and 38% of respondents seem to have performed euthanasia themselves in the past. CONCLUSIONS The majority of German GPs reject active euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide (PAS). Nonetheless, requests for and performance of euthanasia do not seem to be a rare occurrence. Only a small proportion of respondents are willing to perform euthanasia at a patient's request under the current legislation which make these acts illegal in Germany. German history seems to play only a minor role in shaping respondents' attitudes towards active euthanasia or PAS.