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BackgroundMonitoring medical decisions at the end of life has become an important issue in many societies. Built on previous European experiences, the survey and project Fin de Vie en France (“End of Life in France,” or EOLF) was conducted in 2010 to provide an overview of medical end-of-life decisions in France. ObjectiveTo describe the methodology of EOLF and evaluate the effects of design innovations on data quality. MethodsEOLF used a mixed-mode data collection strategy (paper and Internet) along with follow-up campaigns that employed various contact modes (paper and telephone), all of which were gathered from various institutions (research team, hospital, and medical authorities at the regional level). A telephone nonresponse survey was also used. Through descriptive statistics and multivariate logistic regressions, these innovations were assessed in terms of their effects on the response rate, quality of the sample, and differences between Web-based and paper questionnaires. ResultsThe participation rate was 40.0% (n=5217). The respondent sample was very close to the sampling frame. The Web-based questionnaires represented only 26.8% of the questionnaires, and the Web-based secured procedure led to limitations in data management. The follow-up campaigns had a strong effect on participation, especially for paper questionnaires. With higher participation rates (63.21% and 63.74%), the telephone follow-up and nonresponse surveys showed that only a very low proportion of physicians refused to participate because of the topic or the absence of financial incentive. A multivariate analysis showed that physicians who answered on the Internet reported less medication to hasten death, and that they more often took no medical decisions in the end-of-life process. ConclusionsVarying contact modes is a useful strategy. Using a mixed-mode design is interesting, but selection and measurement effects must be studied further in this sensitive field.

During the spring of 2020, because of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, >3 billion persons worldwide lived under lockdown, and many of them were probably angry, uncertain, and distrustful of [...]

An elevated risk of suicide among individuals with cardiovascular diseases has previously been reported, although inconsistently. Petersen et al. (1) recently confirmed the association between heart diseases and suicide. Among the strengths of the Petersen et al. study [1] is the cohort's considerable size and complete population coverage countrywide and the ability to address a number or potential confounders notably psychiatric disorders. Depression seems to be related to a poor prognosis among patients with acute coronary syndrome [2]. In addition, depression - along with other psychiatric disorders - is associated with increased suicide mortality [3]. Showing that the association between heart diseases and suicide persists after adjustment for psychiatric disorders [1] is thus an important contribution to the understanding of the relationship between heart diseases and suicide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]