Table 1

Characteristics of the physicians (n=526) participating in the study

CharacteristicNumberPercentage
SexMale13525.7
Female39174.3
Age in years25–3925648.6
40–6422142.0
65–84499.3
Native languageEstonian45786.9
Russian6612.5
Other30.6
Working experience as a physician<5 years16631.6
6–10 years8616.3
11–20 years7814.8
>21 years19637.3
SpecialtyNo specialty16130.6
Specialist doctor36569.4
Working settingHospital39975.8
Primary healthcare7514.3
Private clinic336.3
Other193.6
WorkloadFull time30357.6
Part time7514.3
Double load13926.4
Not working91.7
Being religiousCertainly529.9
To some extent15629.7
Not at all29556.2
Do not know224.2
General healthVery good14928.3
Good31860.5
Neither good nor bad489.1
Poor101.9
Very poor10.2
Participated in palliative care coursesNo34766.0
In some courses15429.3
In several courses254.7
Managing palliative care patientsDaily8416.0
Several patients per month16230.8
Some patients per year15830.0
Hardly at all12223.2
Managing end-of-life care patientsDaily5610.6
Several patients per month16030.4
Some patients per year16130.6
Hardly at all14928.4
Managing patients whose suffering is not relieved despite careDaily377.0
Several patients per month11321.5
Several patients per year17733.7
Hardly at all19937.8
Has a patient asked you for euthanasia or physician-assisted death?Yes19236.5
No29656.3
Do not remember387.2