title: Attitudes of Chinese Oncology Physicians Toward Death with Dignity.
abstract: Death with dignity (DWD) refers to the refusal of life-prolonging measures for terminally ill patients by "living wills" forms in advance. More and more oncology physicians are receiving DWD requests from advance cancer patients in mainland China.
  
  
  
  The study objective was to investigate the attitudes of Chinese oncology physicians toward the legalization and implementation of DWD.
  
  
  
  A questionnaire investigating the understanding and attitudes toward DWD was administered to 257 oncology physicians from 11 hospitals in mainland China.
  
  
  
  The effective response rate was 86.8% (223/257). The majority of oncology physicians (69.1%) had received DWD requests from patients. Half of the participants (52.5%) thought that the most important reason was the patients' unwillingness to maintain survival through machines. One-third of participants (33.0%) attributed the most important reason to suffering from painful symptoms. Most oncology physicians (78.9%) had knowledge about DWD. A fifth of respondents did not know the difference between DWD and euthanasia, and a few even considered DWD as euthanasia. The majority of oncology physicians supported the legalization (88.3%) and implementation (83.9%) of DWD.
  
  
  
  Many Chinese oncology physicians have received advanced cancer patients' DWD requests and think that DWD should be legalized and implemented. Chinese health management departments should consider the demands of physicians and patients. It is important to inform physicians about the difference between DWD and euthanasia, as one-fifth of them were confused about it.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Medical Oncology, Cancer Center, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University , Chengdu, People's Republic of China .|2 Department of Palliative Medicine, West China Fourth Hospital, Sichuan University , Chengdu, People's Republic of China .
authors.forename: Hui-Ping
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Medical Oncology, Cancer Center, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University , Chengdu, People's Republic of China .
authors.forename: Bo-Yan
authors.initials: BY
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Medical Oncology, Cancer Center, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University , Chengdu, People's Republic of China .
authors.forename: Ting-Wu
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Yi
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Medical Oncology, Cancer Center, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University , Chengdu, People's Republic of China .
authors.forename: Yao-Tiao
authors.initials: YT
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Medical Oncology, Cancer Center, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University , Chengdu, People's Republic of China .
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Medical Oncology, Cancer Center, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University , Chengdu, People's Republic of China .
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Medical Oncology, Cancer Center, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University , Chengdu, People's Republic of China .
authors.forename: Yu-Qing
authors.initials: YQ
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: 3 Dehong Hospice, Dehong People's Hospital , Yunnan, People's Republic of China .
authors.forename: Zong-Yan
authors.initials: ZY
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Medical Oncology, Cancer Center, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University , Chengdu, People's Republic of China .
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jiang
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002681:China; D005065:Euthanasia; D006801:Humans; D008495:Medical Oncology; D009369:Neoplasms; D010819:Physician's Role; D012297:Right to Die; D017236:Suicide, Assisted; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires