alzhub.org
Get help now — free helplines

You can call any of these for free. You do not need a diagnosis, an appointment, or a crisis to call — questions and plain exhaustion are reasons enough.

  • Alzheimer's Association 24/7 Helpline 800-272-3900 24 hours a day, 365 days a year Free, confidential support and information for people with dementia, caregivers, families and the public. Master's-level clinicians. Also Spanish.
  • 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline 988 24/7 Call or text 988, or chat at 988lifeline.org. For anyone in emotional distress or a mental-health crisis, including caregivers.
  • Alzheimer's Foundation of America (AFA) Helpline 866-232-8484 9:00 am - 9:00 pm ET, seven days a week Licensed social workers providing support, info and referrals. Also text message and web chat. Text: 646-586-5283

In a medical emergency, call 911. More numbers, and what each line does, on the help page.

Home › Research › Disparities

Attitudes towards euthanasia among physicians, nurses and the general public in Finland

Ryynänen OP, Myllykangas M, Viren M, Heino H.. Public health, 2002-11-01

This page is alzhub.org's plain-English summary of a published study, not the paper itself. It is generated from the record we hold for this study, sourced and linked below — check the original for the full text and methods.

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 32 out of 100. Disparities

Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies

The object of this study was to investigate the attitudes of physicians, nurses and the general public to physician-assisted suicide (PAS), active voluntary euthanasia (AVE) and passive euthanasia (PE) in Finland. Respondents received a postal questionnaire to evaluate the acceptability of euthanasia in five scenarios, which were imaginary patient cases. Age, severity of pain and prognosis of the disease were presented as background factors in these scenarios. This work was carried out in Finland in 1998. The respondents include a random selection of 814 physicians (506 responded, 62%), 800 nurses (582 responded, 68%) and 1000 representatives of the general public (587 responded, 59%).Thirty-four percent of the physicians, 46% of the nurses and 50% of the general public agreed that euthanasia would be acceptable in some situations. Of the scenarios, PE was most often considered acceptable in cases of severe dementia (physicians 88%, nurses 79% and general public 64%). In the same scenario, 8% of physicians, 23% of nurses and 48% of general public accepted AVE. In the scenario of an incurable cancer, 20% of the physicians, 34% of the nurses and 42% of the general public accepted PAS. All forms of euthanasia were generally more acceptable in older, than in younger, scenario patients. This paper conclude that PE was largely accepted among Finnish medical professionals and the general public. Only a minority favored AVE and PAS.

Key findings

Why it matters

In Finland, passive euthanasia was most often considered acceptable in a scenario of severe dementia, by 88% of physicians, 79% of nurses, and 64% of the general public. This concerns end-of-life attitudes, not the treatment, cure, or prevention of Alzheimer's disease.

New to this subject? Start with our plain-English guide: Disparities →

Study details

How this study scored 32/100
How this study's score is builtJournal tier 7 of 10; Journal's citation record 1 of 4; Study design 0 of 12; Strength of evidence 1 of 5; Peer-review validation 10 of 10; How recent 1 of 5; Sample size 0 of 4; Effect reported 0 of 3; Studied in people 0 of 3; Randomised / blinded 0 of 2; Times cited 4 of 7; Citations per year 2 of 5; Impact for its field and year 2 of 6; Cited by studies here 0 of 6; Still being cited 1 of 4; Senior author's track record left out, no data; Institution's track record 0 of 3; Multi-centre collaboration 0 of 3; Indexed in PubMed 2 of 2; Free to read 0 of 2. 31 of the 96 points it could be judged on, which is 32 of 100. Total 32 of 100.31 of the 96 points we could judge = 32 of 100

Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on senior author's track record, so that was left out: it earned 31 of the 96 points we could judge it on, which is 32 out of 100.

ComponentPointsWhy
Journal tier 7 / 10 Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Public health)
Journal's citation record 1 / 4 Public Health: journal h-index 142 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29)
Study design 0 / 12 No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Strength of evidence 1 / 5 Rated “low” in our summary
Peer-review validation 10 / 10 Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal.
How recent 1 / 5 2002 — older than 20 years, still counted
Sample size 0 / 4 Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Effect reported 0 / 3 No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Studied in people 0 / 3 Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Randomised / blinded 0 / 2 No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Times cited 4 / 7 Cited 98 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10)
Citations per year 2 / 5 3.8 citations a year over 26 year(s) since 2002
Impact for its field and year 2 / 6 Cited 2.3× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI)
Cited by studies here 0 / 6 No other study in this library cites it
Still being cited 1 / 4 Cited 6 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex)
Senior author's track record — / 4 OpenAlex's profile for last-listed author Heli Heino holds only 2 work(s), too few to judge a track record — left out of this score
Institution's track record 0 / 3 Kuopio University Hospital: institution h-index 529 (OpenAlex)
Multi-centre collaboration 0 / 3 OpenAlex lists 1 institution(s) in 1 country — scores zero (affiliation lists can be incomplete)
Indexed in PubMed 2 / 2 Indexed in PubMed (PMID 12407471)
Free to read 0 / 2 Behind a paywall — scores zero
Points 31 / 96 Scored on 19 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 31 of the 96 points we could judge it on is 32 out of 100.
Total 32 / 100 —

What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →

Read the original

May need a subscription OpenAlex found no free copy of the full text (checked 6 Feb 1020), so the publisher may charge for it. The PubMed abstract is free.

Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris

Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. Check the citation against the original before you use it.

APA 7th

Ryynänen, O. P., Myllykangas, M., Viren, M., & Heino, H. (2002). Attitudes towards euthanasia among physicians, nurses and the general public in Finland. Public health. https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ph.1900875

Vancouver

Ryynänen OP, Myllykangas M, Viren M, Heino H. Attitudes towards euthanasia among physicians, nurses and the general public in Finland. Public health. 2002. doi:10.1038/sj.ph.1900875. PMID: 12407471.

BibTeX

@article{ryynanen2002-12407471,
  author  = {Ryynänen, O. P. and Myllykangas, M. and Viren, M. and Heino, H.},
  title   = {{Attitudes towards euthanasia among physicians, nurses and the general public in Finland}},
  journal = {Public health},
  year    = {2002},
  doi     = {10.1038/sj.ph.1900875},
  pmid    = {12407471},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ph.1900875}
}

Related studies in Disparities

Also tagged “delirium”

858 studies in the library carry the topic tag “delirium”; these are this study's neighbours in a fixed, alphabetical-by-hash tour of them, not the closest in content. All 858 tagged studies.

Similar studies

More on Disparities

See all studies in Disparities →