Nine out of Ten Korean Seniors against Life-Prolonging Treatment | Be Korea-savvy

Nine out of Ten Korean Seniors against Life-Prolonging Treatment


A whopping 88.9 percent were opposed to any medical intervention, regardless of their financial situation. (image: indigenous1/flickr)

A whopping 88.9 percent were opposed to any medical intervention, regardless of their financial situation. (image: indigenous1/flickr)

SEOUL, April 11 (Korea Bizwire)Nine of out of 10 Koreans aged 65 years and over do not want to receive medical care to prolong their lives.

According to a survey conducted by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs (KIHASA) published on April 9, only 3.9 percent of the respondents said that they agreed with having life-prolonging treatment.

A whopping 88.9 percent were opposed to any medical intervention, regardless of their financial situation, who they lived with, their education background, whether they worked or not and their age.

When asked about their plans for their inheritance, 52.3 percent answered that they would distribute their property equally to their children, while 15.2 percent said that they would spend their fortune on themselves.

Some respondents showed preference for one child over other children, as 11.4 percent said that they would leave more money to their first-born son, while 7.0 percent said that they would give more to children with financial difficulties.

Some 6.3 percent planned to give all of their fortune to their first son, while 3.3 percent said they would do the same for children who have been taking care of them. Only 4.2 percent said they would return all or some of their fortune to society.

Only 2.2 percent answered that they are considering donating their organs, while 0.6 percent said they have taken classes for seniors to mentally prepare for death.

By Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)

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