Active and Passive Euthanasia: Current Opinion of Mexican Medical Students

The idea to accelerate the process of death in a terminally ill patient is an issue that has polarized societies since ancient times. The purpose of this study is to describe and analyze the opinion of medical students from Nuevo Leon, Mexico, about passive euthanasia, active euthanasia, and their personal posture on the topic.

Using a three-part questionnaire, 1,319 medical students of the first three years of medical school, from three of the four medical schools in the state, were interviewed. The questionnaire included questions on demographics, religion, and the personal posture of the student on active euthanasia, passive euthanasia, and their personal posture on the topic.

Of those interviewed, 44.4% were in favor of active euthanasia, 52.1% of passive euthanasia, and 44.8% had a positive personal posture on the topic. Age and grade were not significant variables for the posture of the students, but the variable gender showed a predominantly positive posture in the male subgroup for active (p=0.001) and passive euthanasia (p=0.031). Religion and the importance of religion/spirituality in daily life were the most significant factors (p<0.005) for the interviewees to hold a negative posture in each of the three scenarios. The legal nature of the scenario (p=0.000) and respect for patient's autonomy (p=0.000) were the most important arguments that could change an original negative posture into a positive one.