OBJECTIVES:

Many religions teach that life has intrinsic value regardless of the condition in which it is experienced. Those who adhere to such religions may be less likely to assign “worse than dead” values to health states or favour access to services such as euthanasia when quality of life is poor. Quantitative methods may be useful in understanding more precisely the role religious adherence and attitudes on access to euthanasia may have on the propensity to assign worse than dead values.

METHODS:

Using the EuroQol Valuation Technology (EQ-VT), EQ-5D-5L valuation tasks were administered to a sample of 153 residents of the Irish Republic in 2016. Individuals provided data on attitudes to physician provided euthanasia as well as how frequently they attended religious services. Each respondent provided 10 time trade-off valuations for health states drawn at random. Data were analysed using a recursive bivariate probit (RBP) in which endogeneity related to attitudes to euthanasia was identified and addressed in a model examining propensity to assign worse than dead values.

RESULTS: CONCLUSIONS:

Religious adherence and attitudes to euthanasia are examples of social norms. These may influence the values assigned to health states. Societies undergoing social change may experience shifts in social norms that impact on values and the distribution of values assigned to health states in national tariffs. This will have implications for value sets and the frequency with which they require revision.