title: Different trends in euthanasia acceptance across Europe. A study of 13 western and 10 central and eastern European countries, 1981-2008.
abstract: We examined how acceptance of euthanasia among the general public has changed between 1981 and 2008 in western and central and eastern European (CEE) countries using data of the European Values Surveys. Data were collected in 1981, 1990, 1999 and 2008 for 13 western European countries and in 1990, 1999 and 2008 for 10 CEE countries. Euthanasia acceptance increased each decade up until 2008 in 11 of 13 western European countries; in CEE countries, it decreased or did not increase between 1999-2008 in 8 of 10 countries. A number of explanations for and implications of this apparent east-west polarization are suggested.
authors.affiliation: End-of-Life Care Research Group, Ghent University and Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium. jcohen@vub.ac.be
authors.forename: Joachim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Van Landeghem
authors.forename: Nico
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Carpentier
authors.forename: Luc
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Deliens
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004522:Educational Status; D005060:Europe; D005065:Euthanasia / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000523:psychology* / Q000639:trends*; D005260:Female; D033161:Government Regulation; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006806:Human Rights; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010541:Permissiveness; D026684:Personal Autonomy; D011639:Public Opinion; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012069:Religion and Psychology; D012923:Social Class; D012945:Social Values; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires