Limitation of treatment at the end of life: an empirical-ethical analysis regarding the practices of physician members of the German Society for Palliative Medicine.

Objectives: To determine the frequencies and types of limitation of medical treatment performed by physician members of the German Society for Palliative Medicine and to analyse the findings with respect to clinical and ethical aspects of end-of-life practices.

Design: Cross-sectional postal survey.

Setting: Data collection via the secretary of the German Society for Palliative Medicine using the German language version of the EURELD survey instrument.

End-of-life practices in palliative care: a cross sectional survey of physician members of the German Society for Palliative Medicine.

Objectives: To elicit types and frequencies of end-of-life practices by physician members of the German Society for Palliative Medicine. To analyse associations between characteristics of physicians and patients and end-of-life practices with intended hastening of death.

Design: Cross-sectional postal survey.