Niels K van Vliet, Femke Atsma, Theo A Boer, Bart van den Brink, A Stef Groenewoud
{"title":"Correlations between the euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide rates and the non-assisted suicide rates at the municipal level in the Netherlands.","authors":"Niels K van Vliet, Femke Atsma, Theo A Boer, Bart van den Brink, A Stef Groenewoud","doi":"10.1080/07481187.2024.2386059","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In the Netherlands, rates of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide (henceforth \"EPAS\") display substantial variation at the municipal level. If a similar variation can be found in non-assisted suicide (henceforth \"suicide\"), this may enable us to establish a possible correlation between these variations. This cross-sectional study assessed proportions of suicide in the years 2013-2017 in The Netherlands. Negative binomial regression analysis was performed to identify potential explanatory variables and to calculate adjusted proportions. The magnitude of variation was calculated by ratios between the highest and lowest municipality proportions. Outliers were detected by Funnel Plots. A possible correlation between suicide and EPAS was calculated. From 2013-2017 the suicide rate between Dutch municipalities varied by a factor 6.7. This variation could only be partially explained by gender, political orientation, the availability of voluntary workers, and mobility limitations. No correlation was found with the variation in EPAS. A \"waterbed effect\" between suicides and EPAS-cases could not be confirmed. Advice for further research is given.</p>","PeriodicalId":11041,"journal":{"name":"Death Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.1000,"publicationDate":"2024-08-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Death Studies","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2024.2386059","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"PSYCHOLOGY, MULTIDISCIPLINARY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
In the Netherlands, rates of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide (henceforth "EPAS") display substantial variation at the municipal level. If a similar variation can be found in non-assisted suicide (henceforth "suicide"), this may enable us to establish a possible correlation between these variations. This cross-sectional study assessed proportions of suicide in the years 2013-2017 in The Netherlands. Negative binomial regression analysis was performed to identify potential explanatory variables and to calculate adjusted proportions. The magnitude of variation was calculated by ratios between the highest and lowest municipality proportions. Outliers were detected by Funnel Plots. A possible correlation between suicide and EPAS was calculated. From 2013-2017 the suicide rate between Dutch municipalities varied by a factor 6.7. This variation could only be partially explained by gender, political orientation, the availability of voluntary workers, and mobility limitations. No correlation was found with the variation in EPAS. A "waterbed effect" between suicides and EPAS-cases could not be confirmed. Advice for further research is given.
期刊介绍:
Now published ten times each year, this acclaimed journal provides refereed papers on significant research, scholarship, and practical approaches in the fast growing areas of bereavement and loss, grief therapy, death attitudes, suicide, and death education. It provides an international interdisciplinary forum in which a variety of professionals share results of research and practice, with the aim of better understanding the human encounter with death and assisting those who work with the dying and their families.