Euthanasia in critically ill neonates in Argentina

BELÉN MESURADO; MARCELO J. VILLAR; AGUSTÍN SILBERBERG

Medicina e Morale

Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore

Lugar: Roma; Año: 2017 vol. 5 p. 591 - 601

2282-5940

Aim: Behavior of neonatologists in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in regard to euthanasia in critically ill neonates was analyzed, focusing on socio-cultural factors.Methods: An anonymous survey was designed to explore the decision-making process. Five-hundred-eighty neo- natologists from 36 neonatal units were invited to participate and 322 completed the study.Results: Over 95% of neonatologists rejected euthanasia. No association was found with age, gender and religious belief. On the contrary, physicians were favorable to euthanasia when they took into account both the predictable quality of life (p ≤ 0.003) and the burden a disabled child would imply for the family (p ≤ 0.001). Conclusion: The majority of neonatologists reject euthanasia. Their behavior was not influenced legal frame, nor by their religious beliefs. They considered that a transcendence perspective of life does lead to this rejection. Predictable quality of life and the burden neonates represent for their families, played a major role on the final decision in those few specialists favorable to euthanasia.