Opinions on Euthanasia among Czech Seniors and University Students

The research is focused on finding differences in opinions on euthanasia between seniors and university students. The influence of independent variables on euthanasia, namely the influence of gender, religion and health, was examined. In addition, the research concentrates on the influence of study fields, i.e. the difference between students at a faculty of medicine, students who chose humanities and the seniors' education. The questionnaire with 31 Likert-type five point scale items was used for the research. The data analysis was made with the test of inductive statistics (ANOVA) and post-hoc tests (Fisher's LSD post-hoc test). In sum, 209 questionnaires were included in the analysis (84 seniors and 125 university students). Cronbach's alpha coefficient was applied to verify the reliability of the questionnaire. The attitude of all respondents was, in general, moderately positive. The results also showed that the opinions on euthanasia between seniors and university students differed only in some areas of the topic. Religion is a very important factor which influences opinions on euthanasia. There were differences in opinions between students of faculty of medicine and students of humanities. In contrary, the health of seniors and their education did not have influence on their attitudes towards euthanasia.