Prevalence of depression and anxiety in patients requesting physicians' aid in dying: cross sectional survey.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the prevalence of depression and anxiety in terminally ill patients pursuing aid in dying from physicians.


METHODS
Cross sectional survey.


METHODS
State of Oregon, USA.


METHODS
58 Oregonians, most terminally ill with cancer or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, who had either requested aid in dying from a physician or contacted an aid in dying advocacy organisation.


METHODS
Diagnosis of depression or anxiety according to the hospital anxiety and depression scale and the structured clinical interview for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.


RESULTS
15 study participants met "caseness" criteria for depression, and 13 met criteria for anxiety. 42 patients died by the end of the study; 18 received a prescription for a lethal drug under the Death with Dignity Act, and nine died by lethal ingestion. 15 participants who received a prescription for a lethal drug did not meet criteria for depression; three did. All three depressed participants died by legal ingestion within two months of the research interview.


CONCLUSIONS
Although most terminally ill Oregonians who receive aid in dying do not have depressive disorders, the current practice of the Death with Dignity Act may fail to protect some patients whose choices are influenced by depression from receiving a prescription for a lethal drug.
Columbia Center for the Study of Chronic, Comorbid Mental and Physical Disorders, Health Services Research and Development, Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center, PO Box 1034, Portland, OR 97239, USA. Linda.Ganzini@va.gov
Linda
L
Ganzini
Elizabeth R
ER
Goy
Steven K
SK
Dobscha
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000690:Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis / Q000523:psychology; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D009922:Oregon / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D012297:Right to Die; D017236:Suicide, Assisted / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019452:Terminally Ill