Predictive Factors of Death Anxiety in Caregivers of Hemodialysis Patients

Abstract

Introduction: Due to the chronic and progressive nature of chronic renal failure, the hemodialysis patients' need for caregivers to carry out daily care increases; as a result of this care, caregivers are also exposed to a wide range of psychological and physical problems. One of the psychological symptoms experienced by caregivers is death anxiety. This study was conducted to determine the predictors of death anxiety in caregivers of hemodialysis patients. Methods:In this cross-sectional descriptive study (May to Jun 2018), 176 caregivers of hemodialysis patients were selected using convenience sampling method from hemodialysis centers of Qazvin. A demographic characteristics questionnaire and Templer Death Anxiety Scale (TDAS) were used to collect data. Data analysis was performed using descriptive and inferential statistics including multiple linear regression in SPSS 23. Results:The mean score of caregivers' death anxiety was 48.37±9.18. Multiple regression results showed that gender (b=4.163, P<0/05), caregiver's relation with patient and simultaneous responsibility for caring other patients were significant predictors of death anxiety. The coefficient of determination indicated that the independent variables of the regression model explain 20.7% of the changes in death anxiety. Conclusion:Considering the important role of caregivers of hemodialysis patients, paying attention to psychological complications of this population such as death anxiety and its effective factors are important. Based on these variables, support and educational programs can be conducted to control the death anxiety in caregivers.

Investigation of Caring Behavior and Caring Burden and Their Associated Factors among Nurses Who Cared for Patients with COVID-19 in East Guilan, the North of Iran

“…The reason for this discrepancy can be due to the average age of the samples in the present study with the mentioned studies. As the majority of samples (85.1%) in the present study were young and in the range of 21 to 40 years, but the average age of caregivers in the studies was conducted by Talebi et al (2017), Salmani et al (2014), and Bayoumi (2014) was 43.42 ± 7.00, 38.41 ± 9.04 and 40 ± 11.00 years, respectively [ 30 , 33 , 34 ]. However, with increasing age, person's physical ability to care for others decreases and the caring burden increases [ 35 ], and this can be a justification for the inconsistency of the findings of present study with those studies.…”

“…Differences in wards and patients under care can be a justification for this discrepancy. However, higher education leads to a wider range of vision and thinking [ 30 ] and can lead to more favorable caring behavior.…”

“…The results of a study showed that age and gender are factors that can greatly affect the caring burden of a patient with dementia [ 32 ]. In a study conducted by Talebi et al (2017), there was a significant relationship between caring burden and age of the caregiver, so that age of the caregiver increases and the caring burden increases [ 30 ]. In other studies conducted by Salmani et al (2014) [ 33 ] and Bayoumi (2014) [ 34 ], there was a significant relationship between caring burden and age of the caregiver, which is not consistent with the results of the present study.…”

“…In this way, nurses who did not have a history of COVID-19 felt a higher caring burden than nurses who had this. In the study by Talebi et al (2017) [ 30 ], there was a statistically significant relationship between the caring burden and the caregiver's illness, so that the caregiver who had the disease herself/himself experienced more caring burden. This finding is not consistent with the results of the present study.…”

Death anxiety and its predictors among the companions of hospitalized patients with coronavirus disease 2019

“…We also found a significant relationship between DA among participants and COVID-19 affliction among other family members, so that participants whose other family members had COVID-19 had lower DA. Similarly, a previous study reported that the caregivers of patients with hemodialysis who gave care to several patients had lower anxiety than those who gave care just to one patient (31). Lower DA among caregivers with several COVID-19 afflicted family members may be due to their greater knowledge and experience about COVID-19.…”