Preferences Vary on Circumstances of Dying
Among terminally （晚期） ill people, attitudes differ on what they think constitutes a （1） or bad death, the results of a new study suggest.
Dr. Elizabeth K. Vig of the University of Washington in Seattle and colleagues interviewed 26 men with （2） heart disease or cancer. The men were asked to describe good and bad deaths, and they also answered （3） about their preferences for dying.
"In this small study, terminally ill men described good and bad deaths （4）," Vig said. "They did not hold the same views about such issues （5） the presence of others at the very end of life or preferred location of death."
Many of the men considered （6） in their sleep to be a good death. The reasons were varied and included not （7） that death was imminent （即将发生的）, and that death would be painless.
For close to half of the men, a prolonged （拖延的） death was （8） a bad death. Some of the men associated a prolonged death with prolonged pain, （9） others thought a prolonged death would be difficult for their families. Most men said that their （10） were very important to them, but this did not mean that they wanted relatives close at the （11） of death. "Valuing family did not also （12） wanting family present at the very end of life," Vig said.
"In fact, some expressed concerns （13） burdening loved ones," Vig said. For instance, some men were worried about the emotional or （14） impact on their family members, according to the Washington researcher. Some were worried （15）their need for care would be a burden on their families, she said.
