Attitudes of physiotherapists and physiotherapy students toward euthanasia: A comparative study

Abstract

This interventional study was undertaken to assess the impact of physiotherapy education on the knowledge and attitudes of physiotherapists (PTs) and physiotherapy students (PSs) toward euthanasia. The study, which was conducted during the period between 2004 and 2005, included a total of 494 participants (311 PTs; 183 PSs) aged 18 to 52 y from the western and central portions of Turkey, who responded to a self-report questionnaire (response rate, 96.4%) that was based on data from the literature. Results indicated that PTs (48.9%) were more likely to approve of euthanasia than PSs (38.3%) (P.05). Overall results showed that sex and age had no effect on whether euthanasia was accepted (P>.05); religiousness was found to have the greatest effect on attitudes toward euthanasia (P<.05). The findings of the current study suggest that (1) the attitudes of PTs are different from those of PSs, and (2) the Islamic point of view has a negative impact on the attitudes of PTs and PSs toward euthanasia.