title: [End of life and termination of life: opinions of elderly persons with health problems].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the views of elderly persons with physical limitations about a number of aspects of the end stage of life and termination of life.
  
  
  METHODS
  Enquiry.
  
  
  METHODS
  University of Groningen, the Netherlands.
  
  
  METHODS
  An enquiry was conducted in 1995 among 575 elderly (429 females, 146 males; age 57-99 years; 281 living alone) with physical restrictions (mostly heart disease, hypertension, rheumatism or other articular diseases). The group had been selected from the 'Groningen longitudinal aging study'. The respondents were asked (a) what they thought about euthanasia, (b) whether they worried about the end stage of life, (c) whether they were afraid of death and how much they were 'preoccupied with death'. For the last-mentioned two questions a visual analogue scale was used.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Almost one-third of the elderly were not preoccupied with death and over half were not afraid of death. Very few scored high on these scales. Respondents' views about the acceptability of active termination of life varied greatly: almost half were of the opinion that their life had to be terminated once they themselves had developed complete dementia. Regarding the end stage of life, respondents mostly worried about being a burden to others, being completely dependent on others, having to say goodbye to their loved ones and having to suffer greatly. Elderly persons with poorer health were more preoccupied with death and worried more about the problems of the end stage of life.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Most of those interviewed were not greatly preoccupied with or afraid of death. They did worry, however, about the problems that might be associated with the end stage of life.
authors.affiliation: Disciplinegroep Gezondheidswetenschappen, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, Faculteit der Medische Wetenschappen.
authors.forename: T J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Tijmstra
authors.forename: G I
authors.initials: GI
authors.lastname: Kempen
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ormel
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged / Q000523:psychology*; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001293:Attitude to Death; D003142:Communication; D005065:Euthanasia / Q000523:psychology*; D005239:Fear; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires