Assessing attitudes toward euthanasia

Euthanasia, to end easily the life of a terminally ill patient, is one of the most controversial ethical issues which there are not enough information about it in Iranian society. Valid and reliable instruments can facilitate research in this issue. The current study aimed at assessing the rate of acceptance of euthanasia in a group of college students, and studying validity and reliability of the Euthanasia Attitude Scale (EAS). Four hundred and thirty seven students judged about morality of euthanasia (by accepting euthanasia scale), and then completed the EAS. To analyze the data, indices of descriptive and inferential statistics including factor analysis and convergent validity were used. The results show that only 27.9 percent of the participants agree with euthanasia. There was a strong correlation between euthanasia acceptance and ethical considerations. Factor analysis of the EAS confirmed a three factor structure. Cronbach’s alpha for the EAS was 0.88 and its correlation with euthanasia acceptance score was 0.54 which indicate internal consistency reliability and convergent validity of the EAS. According to these findings, most of the students are against euthanasia and their opposition to euthanasia mostly is due to Ethical Considerations within the domains of euthanasia attitude. Moreover, this study showed that the Persian version of the Euthanasia Attitude Scale is a valid instrument for assessing attitudes toward euthanasia.