Abstract

RIOS-GONZALEZ, Carlos Miguel et al. Knowledge and perception about euthanasia in medical students from seventeen Latin American countries, 2017. Mem. Inst. Investig. Cienc. Salud [online]. 2018, vol.16, n.3, pp.58-65. ISSN 1812-9528.  https://doi.org/10.18004/mem.iics/1812-9528/2018.016(03)58-065.

The objective was to determine the knowledge and perception of euthanasia in medical students from seventeen Latin American countries during 2017. A cross-sectional descriptive observational study with an analytical component and non-probabilistic convenience sampling was carried out. The instrument was a questionnaire validated by experts and a pilot test. The measures of central tendency, dispersion and proportions were used for the comparison of the groups and a p<0.05 was considered as significant. Of the total number, 3,924 medical students from seventeen Latin American countries were included. The 69.05% (2,709) was female, 93.91% (3,684) of the students knew about euthanasia, and 70.97% (2,784) was in favor of euthanasia. The 53.49% (115) of the students with an age range of 20 to 24 years were unaware of euthanasia (p=0.000), 65.95% (1,836) of the students with a range of ages of 20 to 24 years were in favor of euthanasia (p = 0.000), while 64% (576) of females were against it (p = 0.000). The majority of the students had knowledge about euthanasia and most students had a perception in favor. There was a statistically significant association between knowledge, age and years of study, and also a statistically significant association between perception, age, sex and years of study.

Keywords : euthanasia; medicine students; bioethical discussions.

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