Table 1 Physicians’ experiences with regard to the 2002 Dutch Euthanasia Act
General practitioner % (95% CI)*Medical specialist % (95% CI)*Nursing-home physician % (95% CI)*Total % (95% CI)*
All physicians studiedn = 264n = 527n = 212n = 1032†
Sufficiently informed about the Act93 (90 to 95)87 (84 to 90)97 (94 to 98)92 (90 to 93)
Received request for euthanasia or assisted suicide after enforcement of the Act83 (78 to 87)62 (58 to 66)68 (62 to 74)75 (73 to 78)
Received request after enforcement of Actn = 219n = 335n = 145n = 714‡
Problems with the criteria of due care28 (22 to 34)14 (10 to 18)35 (27 to 43)25 (22 to 28)
  • *Percentages weighted for different sampling fractions and response rates.

  • †For 29 physicians the specialty was unknown.

  • ‡For 15 physicians the specialty was unknown.