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Full-Text Articles in Medicine and Health Sciences

Access To Death Certificates: What Should Research Ethics Committees Require For Approval?, Tore Nilstun, Colleen Cartwright, Rurik Lofmark, L Deliens, Susanne Fischer, Guido Miccinesi, Michael Norup, Agnes Van Der Heide Dec 2005

Access To Death Certificates: What Should Research Ethics Committees Require For Approval?, Tore Nilstun, Colleen Cartwright, Rurik Lofmark, L Deliens, Susanne Fischer, Guido Miccinesi, Michael Norup, Agnes Van Der Heide

Professor Colleen M Cartwright

Purpose: To present and discuss the reactions of research ethics committees (RECs) in a number of countries when asked for approval of a study requiring access to death certificates to identify the physicians signing the certificates and to send them a four-page questionnaire about medical decisions made at the patient's end-of-life that could possibly have hastened death. Methods: A simple questionnaire were sent to the responsible national investigator in an international study (Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland) asking about the interactions between the national research group and the national/regional REC(s). Results: Different laws or guidelines were used …


End-Of-Life Decision Making In Europe And Australia: A Physician Survey, Bregje Onwuteaka-Philipsen, Susanne Fischer, Colleen Cartwright, L Deliens, Guido Miccinesi, Michael Norup, Tore Nilstun, Agnes Van Der Heide, Gerrit Van Der Wal Dec 2005

End-Of-Life Decision Making In Europe And Australia: A Physician Survey, Bregje Onwuteaka-Philipsen, Susanne Fischer, Colleen Cartwright, L Deliens, Guido Miccinesi, Michael Norup, Tore Nilstun, Agnes Van Der Heide, Gerrit Van Der Wal

Professor Colleen M Cartwright

Background: The frequencies with which physicians make different medical end-of-life decisions (ELDs) may differ between countries, but comparison between countries has been difficult owing to the use of dissimilar research methods. Methods: A written questionnaire was sent to a random sample of physicians from 9 specialties in 6 European countries and Australia to investigate possible differences in the frequencies of physicians' willingness to perform ELDs and to identify predicting factors. Response rates ranged from 39% to 68% (N = 10 139). Using hypothetical cases, physicians were asked whether they would (probably) make each of 4 ELDs. Results: In all the …