{
  "abstract": "Objective To study physicians’ personal preferences for end-of-life practices, including life-sustaining and life-shortening practices, and the factors that influence preferences.Design A cross-sectional survey (May 2022–February 2023).Setting Eight jurisdictions: Belgium, Italy, Canada, USA (Oregon, Wisconsin, and Georgia), Australia (Victoria and Queensland).Participants Three physician types: general practitioners, palliative care physicians, and other medical specialists.Main outcome measures Percentage of physicians who preferred various end-of-life practices and provided information about influence on preferences and demographics.Results 1157 survey responses were analysed. Physicians rarely considered life-sustaining practices a (very) good option (in cancer and Alzheimer’s respectively: cardiopulmonary resuscitation, 0.5% and 0.2%; mechanical ventilation, 0.8% and 0.3%; tube feeding, 3.5% and 3.8%). About half of physicians considered euthanasia a (very) good option (respectively, 54.2% and 51.5%). The proportion of physicians considering euthanasia a (very) good option ranged from 37.9% in Italy to 80.8% in Belgium (cancer scenario), and 37.4% in Georgia, USA to 67.4% in Belgium (Alzheimer’s scenario). Physicians practising in a jurisdiction with a legal option for both euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide were more likely to consider euthanasia a (very) good option for both cancer (OR 3.1, 95% CI 2.2 to 4.4) and Alzheimer’s (OR 1.9, 95% CI 1.4 to 2.6).Conclusion Physicians largely prefer to intensify alleviation of symptoms at the end of life and avoid life-sustaining techniques. In a scenario of advanced cancer or Alzheimer’s disease, over half of physicians prefer assisted dying. Considerable preference variation exists across jurisdictions, and preferences for assisted dying seem to be impacted by the legalisation of assisted dying within jurisdictions.",
  "authors": [
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "End-of-Life Care Research Group, Brussels, Belgium",
        "Department of Family Medicine and Chronic Care, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium",
        "Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium"
      ],
      "name": "Sarah Mroz"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "End-of-Life Care Research Group, Brussels, Belgium",
        "Department of Family Medicine and Chronic Care, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium",
        "Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium"
      ],
      "name": "Sigrid Dierickx"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "End-of-Life Care Research Group, Brussels, Belgium",
        "Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium"
      ],
      "name": "Kenneth Chambaere"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "End-of-Life Care Research Group, Brussels, Belgium",
        "Department of Philosophy and Moral Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium"
      ],
      "name": "Freddy Mortier"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy"
      ],
      "name": "Ludovica De Panfilis"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Critical Care, The Ottawa Hospital, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada",
        "Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada"
      ],
      "name": "James Downar"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada"
      ],
      "name": "Julie Lapenskie"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada"
      ],
      "name": "Koby Anderson"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Southeast Permanente Medical Group, Atlanta, Georgia, USA",
        "Medical Association of Georgia, Atlanta, Georgia, USA"
      ],
      "name": "Anna Skold"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "School of History, Philosophy and Religion, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, USA"
      ],
      "name": "Courtney Campbell"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, Wisconsin, USA"
      ],
      "name": "Toby C Campbell"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Australian Centre for Health Law Research, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia"
      ],
      "name": "Rachel Feeney"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Australian Centre for Health Law Research, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia"
      ],
      "name": "Lindy Willmott"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Australian Centre for Health Law Research, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia"
      ],
      "name": "Ben P White"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "End-of-Life Care Research Group, Brussels, Belgium"
      ],
      "name": "Luc Deliens"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Physicians’ preferences for their own end of life: a comparison across North America, Europe, and Australia",
  "uid": "f9ae7065-6e42-5e92-bfd2-b45c75825176"
}