How does legalization of physician assisted suicide affect rates of suicide?
Objectives: Several US states have legalized or decriminalised physician assisted suicide (PAS) whilst others are currently considering permitting PAS. Although it has been suggested that legalization could plausibly lead to a reduction in total suicides and to a delay in those suicides which do oc...
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| Format: | Article |
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Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins
2015
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/31805/ |
| _version_ | 1848794275643392000 |
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| author | Jones, David Albert Paton, David |
| author_facet | Jones, David Albert Paton, David |
| author_sort | Jones, David Albert |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Objectives: Several US states have legalized or decriminalised physician assisted suicide (PAS) whilst others are currently considering permitting PAS. Although it has been suggested that legalization could plausibly lead to a reduction in total suicides and to a delay in those suicides which do occur, to date no research has tested whether these effects can be identified in practice. The aim of this paper was to fill this gap by examining the association between the legalization of PAS and state-level suicide rates in the USA between 1990 and 2013.
Methods: We used regression analysis to test the change in rates of non-assisted suicides and total suicides (i.e. including assisted suicides) before and after legalization of PAS.
Results: Controlling for various socio-economic factors, unobservable state- and year effects, and state-specific linear trends, legalizing PAS was associated with a 6.3% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 2.70%, 9.9%) increase in total suicides (i.e. including assisted suicides). This effect was larger in the over 65s (14.5%, CI = 6.4%, 22.7%). Introduction of PAS was not associated with a reduction in non-assisted suicide rates, nor with an increase in the mean age of non-assisted suicide.
Conclusion: Legalizing PAS has been associated with an increased rate of total suicides relative to other states and no decrease in non-assisted suicides. This suggests either that PAS does not inhibit (nor acts as an alternative to) non-assisted suicide, or that it acts in this way in some individuals but is associated with an increased inclination to suicide in other individuals.
Funding: The authors received no funding for this research beyond the salaries paid by their respective institutions. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:13:36Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-31805 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:13:36Z |
| publishDate | 2015 |
| publisher | Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-318052020-05-04T20:06:59Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/31805/ How does legalization of physician assisted suicide affect rates of suicide? Jones, David Albert Paton, David Objectives: Several US states have legalized or decriminalised physician assisted suicide (PAS) whilst others are currently considering permitting PAS. Although it has been suggested that legalization could plausibly lead to a reduction in total suicides and to a delay in those suicides which do occur, to date no research has tested whether these effects can be identified in practice. The aim of this paper was to fill this gap by examining the association between the legalization of PAS and state-level suicide rates in the USA between 1990 and 2013. Methods: We used regression analysis to test the change in rates of non-assisted suicides and total suicides (i.e. including assisted suicides) before and after legalization of PAS. Results: Controlling for various socio-economic factors, unobservable state- and year effects, and state-specific linear trends, legalizing PAS was associated with a 6.3% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 2.70%, 9.9%) increase in total suicides (i.e. including assisted suicides). This effect was larger in the over 65s (14.5%, CI = 6.4%, 22.7%). Introduction of PAS was not associated with a reduction in non-assisted suicide rates, nor with an increase in the mean age of non-assisted suicide. Conclusion: Legalizing PAS has been associated with an increased rate of total suicides relative to other states and no decrease in non-assisted suicides. This suggests either that PAS does not inhibit (nor acts as an alternative to) non-assisted suicide, or that it acts in this way in some individuals but is associated with an increased inclination to suicide in other individuals. Funding: The authors received no funding for this research beyond the salaries paid by their respective institutions. Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins 2015-10 Article PeerReviewed Jones, David Albert and Paton, David (2015) How does legalization of physician assisted suicide affect rates of suicide? Southern Medical Journal, 180 (10). pp. 599-604. ISSN 1541-8243 physician-assisted suicide suicide Oregon Washington http://nodcsuicide.org/app/uploads/2015/10/Assisted-Suicide-Affect-Rates-of-Suicide.pdf doi:10.14423/SMJ.0000000000000349 doi:10.14423/SMJ.0000000000000349 |
| spellingShingle | physician-assisted suicide suicide Oregon Washington Jones, David Albert Paton, David How does legalization of physician assisted suicide affect rates of suicide? |
| title | How does legalization of physician assisted suicide affect rates of suicide? |
| title_full | How does legalization of physician assisted suicide affect rates of suicide? |
| title_fullStr | How does legalization of physician assisted suicide affect rates of suicide? |
| title_full_unstemmed | How does legalization of physician assisted suicide affect rates of suicide? |
| title_short | How does legalization of physician assisted suicide affect rates of suicide? |
| title_sort | how does legalization of physician assisted suicide affect rates of suicide? |
| topic | physician-assisted suicide suicide Oregon Washington |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/31805/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/31805/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/31805/ |