[I am old and sick, therefore I "exit"?]

One hundred seventy patients (average age 79.9 years) with preserved cognitive faculties agreed to complete a questionnaire on the costs caused by their health conditions, the guilt they feel due to these costs, and their eventual resort to the Exit association. 48% answered that health care cost too much to the community, 10% reported feeling guilty about the potential costs generated by a consultation with their physician. 98 patients knew about the Exit association: 26% considered that resorting to Exit was a way to reduce health costs, 30% a way to avoid being an economic burden to their family and 34% a way to die with dignity. Our results indicate that economic pressure on medical costs is a source of guilt for older citizens, so much so that one in 10 patients considers resorting to assisted sucide for fear of costing too much to the community.