Factors Influencing Physician Attitudes

Both the youngest (ages 25–34) and oldest (over 64) physician cohorts were more accepting of assisted dying than middle-aged cohorts. Male physicians, those in operative and diagnostic specialties, and medical students showed significantly greater support for euthanasia and PAS legalisation than female physicians, those in conservative specialties, and other cohorts. The measured demographic and background factors explain only a small fraction of attitudinal variance (Nagelkerke R² = 0.046–0.057), reflecting the multidimensional nature of physician attitudes toward assisted dying. Prior exposure to a patient or family member requesting euthanasia or PAS was associated with significantly more permissive attitudes and substantially higher willingness to participate. In Canada, emotional burden and fear of psychological harm were specifically cited as reasons physicians decline to personally participate in assisted dying.