Ethics of life-sustaining treatment in locked-in syndrome: A Chinese survey

•A survey of people in China thought that life-sustaining treatment should not be stopped in individuals with chronic locked-in syndrome. Especially neurologists thought that it might also be unnecessary to withdraw life-sustaining treatment because the locked-in syndrome is not terminal or irreversible.•The survey did not identify a dissociation between personal preferences and general opinions, possibly because of a social uniformity in China where individualism is less pronounced.•Families experience the stress of caring for individuals with locked-in syndrome. The quality-of-life score was lower for relatives than non-relatives.