Physicians’ views on the role of relatives in euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide decision-making: a mixed-methods study among physicians in the Netherlands

Table 1 Background characteristics of physicians from the questionnaire (n = 746)*

	Total Total n = 746 N (%)
DEMOGRAPHICS
Gender
Male	328 (45.6%)
Female	416 (54.3%)
Other	1 (0.1%)
Age (years)
Median (IQR)	48.0 (16.0)
Religious belief^a
Yes	241 (28.9%)
PROFESSIONALS CHARACTERISTICS
Medical specialty
General practitioner	402 (57.9%)
Clinical specialist	196 (36.3%)
Elderly care physician	144 (5.8%)
Years of working experience
Median (IQR)	20.0 (16.0)
Consultant palliative care/ member palliative care team
Yes	43 (5.3%)
SCEN physician^b
Yes	23 (2.3%)
Ever received an explicit EAS request
No	169 (25.0%)
Yes, but never performed EAS	165 (20.3%)
Yes, and ever performed EAS	410 (54.7%)

^*Weighted percentages. As a result of this weighting procedure the percentages presented cannot be derived from the absolute unweighted numbers presented
^aAccording to the respondent, Christian religion in 89.6% of the cases
^bA SCEN physician is a trained physician from whom other physicians can obtain information and advice about EAS, or request a formal consultation (one of the criteria for due care)
Missing values: gender 1, age 4, religious belief 5, medical specialty 4, years of working experience 5, consultant palliative care/member of palliative care team 4, SCEN physician 4, ever received an explicit EAS request 2

ISSN: 1472-6939