Views of Elderly People Concerning End-of-Life Decisions

The aim of this study was to determine elders' views regarding the acceptability of seven end-of-life decision options; existing research provides only partial information. A total of 447 Black and White elders ages 60 to 100 years responded to 17 decision situations depicting conditions with a low quality of life, rating acceptability of each decision option. Mean percentage (over 17 decision situations) of participants finding each decision option acceptable were: striving to live, 52%; refusing or withdrawing treatment, 47%; letting someone close decide, 36%; suicide, 7%; assisted suicide, 12%; voluntary euthanasia, 12%; and allowing the physician to decide to end life, 19%. Views were related to age, ethnicity, education, occupation, and religious affiliation using MANOVA analyses.