Association of socioeconomic status with medical assistance in dying: a case-control analysis.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

Economic constraints are a common explanation of why patients with low socioeconomic status tend to experience less access to medical care. We tested whether the decreased care extends to medical assistance in dying in a healthcare system with no direct economic constraints.

Design

Population-based case-control study of adults who died.

Setting

Ontario, Canada, between 1 June 2016 and 1 June 2019.

Patients

Patients receiving palliative care under universal insurance with no user fees.

Exposure

Patient's socioeconomic status identified using standardised quintiles.

Main outcome measure

Whether the patient received medical assistance in dying.

Results

A total of 50 096 palliative care patients died, of whom 920 received medical ass

SUBMITTER: Redelmeier DA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8154947 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature