Medical end-of-life decisions in Switzerland 2001 and 2013: Who is involved and how does the decision-making capacity of the patient impact?

QUESTIONS UNDER STUDY: In Switzerland, the prevalence of medical end-of-life practices had been assessed on a population level only once - in 2001 - until in 2013/14 an identical study was conducted. We aimed to compare the results of the 2001 and 2013 studies with a special focus on shared decision-making and patients' decision-making capacity. METHODS: Our study encompassed a 21.3speaking part of Switzerland aged 1 year or older. From 4998 mailed questionnaires, 3173 (63.5 were returned. All data were weighted to adjust for age- and sex-specific differences in response rates. RESULTS: Cases with at least one reported end-of-life practice significantly increased from 74.52001) to 82.32013) of all deaths eligible for an end-of-life decision (p