title: The prevalence in the general population of advance directives on euthanasia and discussion of end-of-life wishes: a nationwide survey.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  To determine the extent to which members of the general population have talked to their physician about their wishes regarding medical treatment at the end of life, to describe the prevalence of advance directives on euthanasia, and to identify associated factors.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study used data from the cross-sectional Health Interview Study (HIS) 2008 that collected data from a representative sample (N = 9651) of the Belgian population.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of all respondents, 4.4 % had spoken to their physician about their wishes regarding medical treatment at the end of life, while 1.8 % had an advance directive on euthanasia. Factors positively associated with discussions regarding wishes for medical treatment at the end of life were being female, being older in age, having poorer health status and having more GP contacts. People older than 55 years and living in Flanders or Brussels were more likely than the youngest age categories to have an advance directive on euthanasia.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Younger people, men, people living in the Walloon region of Belgium, people without a longstanding illness, chronic condition or disability and people with few GP contacts could represent a target group for education regarding advance care planning. Public information campaigns and education of physicians may help to enable the public and physicians to engage more in advance care planning.
authors.affiliation: End-of-Life Care Research group, Ghent University & Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Laarbeeklaan 103, 1090, Jette, Belgium. adevlemi@vub.ac.be.
authors.forename: Aline
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: De Vleminck
authors.affiliation: End-of-Life Care Research group, Ghent University & Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Laarbeeklaan 103, 1090, Jette, Belgium. koen.pardon@vub.ac.be.
authors.forename: Koen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Pardon
authors.affiliation: End-of-Life Care Research group, Ghent University & Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Laarbeeklaan 103, 1090, Jette, Belgium. dirk.houttekier@vub.ac.be.
authors.forename: Dirk
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Houttekier
authors.affiliation: End-of-Life Care Research group, Ghent University & Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Laarbeeklaan 103, 1090, Jette, Belgium. lvdblock@vub.ac.be.|Department of Family Medicine and Chronic Care, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Brussels, Belgium. lvdblock@vub.ac.be.
authors.forename: Lieve
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Van den Block
authors.affiliation: End-of-Life Care Research group, Ghent University & Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Laarbeeklaan 103, 1090, Jette, Belgium. robert.vanderstichele@ugent.be.|Heymans Institute of Pharmacology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium. robert.vanderstichele@ugent.be.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Vander Stichele
authors.affiliation: End-of-Life Care Research group, Ghent University & Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Laarbeeklaan 103, 1090, Jette, Belgium. luc.deliens@vub.ac.be.|Department of Medical Oncology, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium. luc.deliens@vub.ac.be.
authors.forename: Luc
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Deliens
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016223:Advance Directives / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001530:Belgium; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003657:Decision Making; D005065:Euthanasia / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires