Support for Physician-assisted Suicide: Exploring the Impact of Ethnicity and Attitudes Toward Planning for Death

The authors interviewed adults in five ethnic groups, used factor analysis to quantify attitudes toward planning for death, and used path analysis to test the relative influence of respondent characteristics, including ethnicity, and attitude factors (Advocacy to Discuss/Document Wishes, Trust in Family and Physician to Make Decisions, Reliance on Religious Guidance, Fears and Anxiety About Life's End, and Fatalism About Death's Timing) on support for physician-assisted suicide (PAS). Findings verified that attitude factors had a direct effect on PAS support but that, contrary to the hypothesis, ethnicity had a direct effect on support for PAS as well.