Respecting Autonomy in Difficult Medical Settings: a Questionnaire Study in Japan

A total of 747 Japanese university & college students & 114 parents of these students participated in a questionnaire survey. Most of the participants thought that autonomy should be respected in situations involving death with dignity & euthanasia, whereas it should not be respected in attempted suicide & involuntary admission of individuals with mental illness. A cluster analysis revealed that participants could be divided into 5 groups: aid-in-dying advocates, complete libertarians, protectors of the mentally ill, complete paternalists, & questionables. Findings suggest that the traditional paternalistic relationship between doctor & patient is undergoing a gradual transformation in Japan. (29 refs.)