Table 2 Forgoing life-prolonging treatment and intensified alleviation of pain and symptoms, Switzerland 2013, by language region
From: Medical end-of-life practices in Swiss cultural regions: a death certificate study
Regions | German-speaking | French-speaking | Italian-speaking | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Number of non-sudden expected deaths (eligible for end-of-life decision) | N = 2256 | N = 992 | N = 430 | |||
%a | 95% CI | %a | 95% CI | %a | 95% CI | |
Forgoing life-prolonging treatment | ||||||
Total | 70.0% | (68.1–71.9) | 59.8% | (56.7–62.8) | 57.4% | (52.7–62.0) |
- taking into account hastening of death | 25.8% | (24.0–27.6) | 32.1% | (29.3–35.1) | 25.7% | (21.8–30.1) |
- intending hastening of death | 44.2% | (42.2–46.3) | 27.7% | (25.0–30.6) | 31.7% | (27.5–36.3) |
- not combined with other medical end-of-life practice (1) | 17.3% | (15.8–18.9) | 12.5% | (10.6–14.7) | 10.2% | (7.7–13.5) |
- combined with intensified alleviation of pain/symptoms only | 51.2% | (49.1–53.2) | 45.0% | (41.9–48.1) | 45.4% | (40.7–50.1) |
- ditto, only intended forgoing treatment (2) | 32.0% | (30.1–34.0) | 19.2% | (16.8–21.7) | 24.6% | (20.7–28.9) |
- combined with physician-assisted death | 1.5% | (0.1–2.1) | 2.3% | (1.5–3.5) | 1.8% | (0.9–3.6) |
Intensified alleviation of pain/symptoms | ||||||
Total | 63.4% | (61.4–65.3) | 61.4% | (58.3–64.4) | 63.8% | (59.1–68.2) |
- taking into account hastening of death | 51.7% | (49.7–53.8) | 53.8% | (50.7–56.9) | 48.8% | (44.1–53.5) |
- partly intending hastening of death | 11.6% | (10.4–13.0) | 7.6% | (6.1–9.4) | 15.0% | (11.9–18.8) |
- not combined with other medical end-of-life practice (3) | 10.7% | (9.5–12.0) | 14.0% | (12.0–16.4) | 16.6% | (13.4–20.5) |
- combined with forgoing life-prolonging treatment only | 51.2% | (49.1–53.2) | 45.0% | (41.9–48.1) | 45.4% | (40.7–50.1) |
- ditto, only non-intended forgoing treatment (4) | 19.1% | (17.6–20.8) | 25.8% | (23.2–28.7) | 20.8% | (17.2–24.9) |
- combined with physician-assisted death | 1.5% | (0.1–2.1) | 24.0% | (1.6–3.6) | 1.8% | (0.9–3.6) |