Medical Student's Attitude Towards Euthanasiain Qom in 2009

Among the major issues facing the new world of medical ethics is euthanasia. This is because euthanasia can be related to the value of human life. The purpose of this study of medical students in Qom was to determine medical students’ attitude towards euthanasia in Qom University of medical sciences. This research was a cross-sectional study carried out on all training medical students and interns working in hospitals affiliated to Qom University of Medical Sciences during a 5-month period in summer and autumn of 2009. Data were obtained by self-administered questionnaires whose validity and reliability indexes had been approved. Data were then analyzed using Man Whitney U and Wilcoxon tests (p<0.05). The results of this study showed that student' attitude towards euthanasia was 50% positive and 50% negative. The highest positive attitude towards all types of euthanasia was that of passive involuntary (28.6%). Moreover, positive attitude towards other forms of euthanasia were as follows: indirect euthanasia 26.2%, passive voluntary euthanasia 25.7%, active involuntary euthanasia 21.4%, active voluntary 17.2%, active compulsory euthanasia 8.6%, and euthanasia with physician collaboration 8.6%. The majority of samples (28.5%) agreed with the choice of euthanasia by the patient. The mean score of male students was significantly higher than that of female students (p=0.039). Since this study tried to clarify the attitude of medical students in Qom University of medical sciences, it can be said that knowing the kind of attitude towards different categories of medical ethics can be of much help in preparing a coherent law on euthanasia.