Death Anxiety and Correlates in Cancer Patients Receiving Palliative Care

Emanuel, Linda L.; Solomon, Sheldon; Chochinov, Harvey Max; Delgado-Guay, Marvin Omar; Handzo, George; Hauser, Joshua; Kittelson, Sheri; O’Mahony, Sean; Quest, Tammie E.; Rabow, Michael W.; Schoppee, Tasha M.; Wilkie, Diana J.; Yao, Yingwei; Fitchett, George

doi:10.1089/jpm.2022.0052

Cited by 8 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 35 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Regarding disease‐related factors, the meta‐analysis showed that death anxiety was positively related to the symptom burden, which is consistent with previous studies (Cella & Tross, 1987; Emanuel et al., 2023; Neel et al., 2015; Philipp et al., 2021; Scheffold et al., 2018; Su et al., 2022), and there was no heterogeneity among the included studies. These findings suggest that physical and psychological distress are closely related.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

“…Notably, the high heterogeneity of this factor in our study may be related to the fact that the population included in the study by Emanuel et al. (2023) was highly educated (more than 90% had a university education) and were patients in the middle and late stages of palliative care. Alternatively, people who are better educated may have a clearer understanding of the consequences of cancer and a greater fear of death (Bibi & Khalid, 2020).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 79%

“…Previous studies have also shown that a higher level of education and greater social experience can help alleviate anxiety about death (Pillay & Sargent, 1999). Notably, the high heterogeneity of this factor in our study may be related to the fact that the population included in the study by Emanuel et al (2023) was highly educated (more than 90% had a university education) and were patients in the middle and late stages of palliative care.…”

Section: Demographicvariablesmentioning

confidence: 70%

“…Cancer death anxiety also impacts patients' QOL. Our meta‐analysis revealed that lower QOL was related to higher levels of death anxiety (Ding, 2016; Emanuel et al., 2023; Kaymak et al., 2022; Sherman et al., 2010; Soleimani et al., 2016; Tao & Hu, 2017). Cancer is a psychosomatic disease, and the psychological factors and QOL of patients have mutually causal relationships.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Considering the destructiveness of death anxiety, some scholars have examined the factors related to death anxiety in cancer patients to provide better supportive intervention strategies for cancer patients with death anxiety. At present, many studies have evaluated the factors related to cancer patients' death anxiety, including sociodemographic characteristics, disease factors and psychosocial factors (Emanuel et al., 2023; Hong et al., 2022). For example, younger age (Abbas et al., 2022), female (Abbas et al., 2022), lower education level (Gong et al., 2022), more severe symptom burden (Scheffold et al., 2018), higher depression levels (Afrashteh & Masoumi, 2021), higher anxiety levels (Afrashteh & Masoumi, 2021), greater fear of recurrence (Curran et al., 2020) and greater psychological distress (Gonen et al., 2012) are related to higher levels of death anxiety.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Correlates of death anxiety for patients with cancer: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

Li,

Dong,

Tang

et al. 2024

Journal of Clinical Nursing

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

ObjectiveA systematic review and meta‐analysis was performed to identify the factors related to cancer death anxiety based on available evidence.DesignThis systematic review and meta‐analysis followed the PRISMA 2020 guidelines.MethodsSeven databases were searched to identify studies on the relationships of cancer death anxiety with demographic characteristics, disease factors and psychosocial factors from inception to May 2023. The Agency for Medical Research and Quality (AHRQ) scale was used to evaluate the quality of the included studies. After two researchers independently completed the literature search, data extraction and quality evaluation, meta‐analysis was conducted by using RevMan5.3 and Stata 17.0 software.ResultsIn total, 52 studies were included in this review. The results revealed that there were positive correlations of death anxiety with female sex, the symptom burden, anxiety levels, depression levels, fear of recurrence, attachment avoidance, psychological distress, resignation and confrontation coping. Death anxiety was negatively correlated with age, education level, ability to perform daily activities, self‐esteem, spiritual well‐being, sense of meaning in life, resilience, quality of life, social support and religious beliefs.ConclusionsOur results can inform the design of interventions to address death anxiety and improve the overall quality of life of cancer patients. Healthcare professionals should promptly identify and focus on death anxiety in high‐risk populations of cancer patients.Relevance to Clinical PracticeCancer patients commonly experience death anxiety, and this anxiety has a nonnegligible impact on patients' mental health and overall quality of life. This study can inform the development of interventions by clinical healthcare professionals.No Patient or Public ContributionThis was a meta‐analysis based on data from previous studies.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 79%

Section: Demographicvariablesmentioning

confidence: 70%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Correlates of death anxiety for patients with cancer: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

Li,

Dong,

Tang

et al. 2024

Journal of Clinical Nursing

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Development and Psychometric Testing of the Existential Distress Scale for Palliative Care Cancer Patients

Chen,

Zheng

et al. 2024

Psycho-Oncology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

ObjectiveExistential distress is a common phenomenon in palliative care cancer patients. Developing a reliable and easy‐to‐use assessment scale for existential distress of palliative care cancer patients is crucial. The aim of this study was to develop a measurement of existential distress for palliative care cancer patients and test its properties.MethodsThe guidelines for developing a scale proposed by DeVellis were followed. Palliative care cancer patients were invited to test the draft scale. Two‐hundred and nineteen valid questionnaires were included for the item analysis and exploratory factor analysis. Three‐hundred and two valid questionnaires were included for confirmatory factor, convergent validity, discriminant validity, and internal consistency reliability analyses. Twenty repeated data were measured for test–retest reliability analysis.ResultsThe Existential Distress Scale for Palliative Care Cancer Patients was developed with nine items and three dimensions, including meaninglessness, alienation, and death anxiety. The confirmatory factor analysis showed that the developed scale had a stable factor structure. The Cronbach's α for the whole scale was 0.81, and that for each dimension was 0.76, 0.67, and 0.70, respectively. The test–retest reliability of the scale was 0.79, and that of each dimension was 0.58–0.64.ConclusionsThe Existential Distress Scale for Palliative Care Cancer Patients is a simple but reliable and valid tool.

show abstract