Journal of Pain and Symptom Management
Volume 39, Issue 1 , Pages 76-87 , January 2010

Physicians' Beliefs and Attitudes About End-of-Life Care: A Comparison of Selected Regions in Hungary and the United States

  • Agnes Csikos, MD

      Affiliations

    • Institute of Family Medicine, University of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary
    • ,
  • John Mastrojohn III, RN, MSN, MBA

      Affiliations

    • Quality and Palliative Care, Alexandria, Virginia, USA
    • National Hospice & Palliative Care Organization and Foundation for Hospices in Sub-Saharan Africa, Alexandria, Virginia, USA
    • ,
  • Teresa Albanese, PhD

      Affiliations

    • Health Services Research and Education Institute, Summa Health System, Akron, Ohio, USA
    • Department of Internal Medicine, Summa Health System, Akron, Ohio, USA
    • Corresponding Author InformationAddress correspondence to: Teresa Albanese, PhD, Department of Internal Medicine, Summa Health System, 55 Arch Street, Suite 1A, Akron, OH 44304, USA.
    • ,
  • Jessica Richmond Moeller, MA

      Affiliations

    • Department of Counseling, The University of Akron, Akron, Ohio, USA
    • ,
  • Steven Radwany, MD

      Affiliations

    • Palliative Care and Hospice Services, Summa Health System, Akron, Ohio, USA
    • Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine, Akron, Ohio, USA
    • ,
  • Csilla Busa, MA

      Affiliations

    • FACT Institute, Pécs, Hungary

,Accepted 17 June 2009.

References 

  1. Brennan F. Palliative care as an international human right. J Pain Symptom Manage. 2007;33:494–499
  2. McGorty E, Bornstein B. Barriers to physicians' decisions to discuss hospice: insights gained from the United States hospice model. J Eval Clin Prac. 2003;9:363–372
  3. World Health Organization. Country reports: Hungary. Available from www.who.int/countries/hun/en/Accessed June 9, 2008
  4. Hungarian Central Statistical Office. Population, place of death. Budapest, Hungary: Hungarian Central Statistical Office; 2006;
  5. Act HHC. Hungarian Health Care Act, Section 99. Budapest, Hungary: Republic of Hungary, 1997.
  6. Hegedus K. Hospice in Hungary, 2006. Budapest, Hungary: Hungarian Hospice Palliative Association; 2007;Available from http://www.hospice.hu/docu/Hospice_in_Hungary_2006.pdfAccessed June 9, 2008
  7. National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization. NHPCO facts and figures: hospice care in America, 2007. Available from www.nhpco.org/research. Accessed June 9, 2008.
  8. SPSS Inc. Statistical package for the social sciences, version 12.0.1. Chicago, IL: SPSS Inc.; 2003;
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  10. Dworkind M, Shvartzman P, Adler P, Franco E. Urban family physicians and the care of cancer patients. Can Fam Physician. 1994;40:47–50
  11. Ogle K, Mavis B, Wyatt G. Physicians and hospice care: attitudes, knowledge, and referrals. J Palliat Med. 2002;5:85–92
  12. Cherlin E, Morris V, Morris J, et al. Common myths about caring for patients with terminal illness: opportunities to improve care in the hospital setting. J Hosp Med. 2007;2:357–365
  13. Ogle K, Mavis B, Wang T. Hospice and primary care physicians: attitudes, knowledge and barriers. Am J Hosp Palliat Care. 2003;20:41–51
  14. Szabo N, Szabo G, Hegedus K. Interdisciplinary, workplace stress, holistic management. [Hungarian.] Lege Artis Med. 2008;18:243–249
  15. Holland J, Geary N, Marchini A, Tross S. An international survey of physician attitudes and practice in regard to revealing the diagnosis of cancer. Cancer Invest. 1987;5:151–154
  16. Blasszauer B. In Hungary, the old medical ethics meets the new. Hastings Cent Rep. 1986;16:25–27
  17. Csikos A, Albanese T, Busa C, Nagy L, Radwany S. Hungarians' perspectives on end of life care. J Palliat Med. 2008;11:1083–1087
  18. Kakuk P. Informed consent: a pragmatic view, Orv Hetil. 2004;145:1517–1522
  19. Kopp M, Piko' B. The role of behavioral sciences in Hungarian and international medical education: overview and possibilities, Orv Hetil. 2001;142:2715–2721
  20. von Gunten C. Ensuring competency in end-of-life care. JAMA. 2000;284:3051–3055

 The authors wish to acknowledge the financial support of the U.S. Fulbright Program for Mr. Mastrojohn's Fulbright Fellowship (Institute of International Education) and Dr. Csikos' Fulbright Scholarship (Council for International Exchange of Scholars). The authors also acknowledge the support of the Hungarian Fulbright Commission, Budapest, Hungary; University of Pécs, Department of Family Medicine, Pécs, Hungary; and Health Services Research and Education Institute of Summa Health System Foundation, Akron, Ohio, USA. Dr. Csikos's work was supported, in part, by the Open Society Institute of the Soros Foundation.

PII: S0885-3924(09)00789-1

doi: 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2009.05.019

Journal of Pain and Symptom Management
Volume 39, Issue 1 , Pages 76-87 , January 2010

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