Study reveals impact of faith on end of life care from doctors

Study finds religious conviction impacts the decisions doctors make in the end of life care they provide to patients.
by Eric Young, Christian Post
Friday, August 27, 2010

Doctors who are not religious are more likely to take steps to help end a very sick patient's life than doctors who are very religious, according to the findings of a new study.

The study, published in the Journal of Medical Ethics, surveyed more than 3,700 doctors in the UK across a wide range of specialties such as neurology, palliative care, and general practice.

Researchers asked doctors about the last patient whom they had worked with who had died. The doctors answered questions about their own religious beliefs and ethnic background, as well as end of life care. the rest

The study found that the strength of a doctor's religious faith is related to the incidence of continuous deep sedation until death, confirming findings of previous research. Researchers also found that a doctor who reported being "very or extremely non-religious" had an increased likelihood of taking these kinds of decisions to end a patient's life.