From: Euthanasia and other end-of-life decisions: a mortality follow-back study in Belgium
 | Dutch-speaking community | French-speaking community |  |  | Belgium total |  | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | N | % | N | % | ORb | 95%CI | N | % | 95%CId |
Most important end-of life decision that possibly hastened death (ELD) | |||||||||
Number of deaths studied a | 1007 | 637 | Â | Â | 1644 | Â | |||
Euthanasia/assisted suicidee | 16 | 1.6 | 6 | 0.9 | 1.70 | [0.66–4.36] | 22 | 1.3 | [0.8–2.0] |
Administering life-ending drugs without explicit patient request | 17 | 1.7 | 9 | 1.4 | 1.20 | [0.53–2.71] | 26 | 1.6 | [1.0–2.3] |
Intensified alleviation of symptoms | 295 | 29.3 | 160 | 25.1 | 1.21 | [0.96–1.53]c | 455 | 27.7 | [25.5–29.9] |
Withholding or withdrawing of life-prolonging treatment | 177 | 17.6 | 89 | 14.0 | 1.33 | [0.999–1.77]c | 266 | 16.2 | [14.4–18.1] |
Total ELD | 505 | 50.1 | 264 | 41.4 | 1.43 | [1.16–1.77] | 769 | 46.8 | [44.3–49.2] |
Total ELD with partly or explicitly life-shortening intent | 153 | 15.2 | 70 | 11.0 | 1.42 | [1.05–1.93] | 223 | 13.6 | [11.9–15.3] |
Continuous deep sedation f | |||||||||
Number of deaths studied a | 999 | 630 | Â | Â | 1629 | Â | |||
All sedation | 82 | 8.2 | 95 | 15.1 | 0.50 | [0.37–0.69] | 177 | 10.9 | [9.4–12.5] |
forgoing artificial food/fluid | 36 | 3.6 | 37 | 5.9 | 0.60 | [0.37–0.96] | 73 | 4.5 | [3.5–5.6] |
administering food/fluid | 46 | 4.6 | 58 | 9.2 | 0.42 | [0.28–0.64] | 104 | 6.4 | [5.2–7.7] |