Death Anxiety and Its Predictors Among Older Adults

Authors

  • Khadijeh Sharifi Assistant Professor, Department of Midwifery (Reproductive Health), Trauma Nursing Research Centre, Schoolof Nursing and Midwifery, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran
  • Zahra Sooki Assistant Professor, Department of Midwifery (Reproductive Health), Trauma Nursing Research Centre, Schoolof Nursing and Midwifery, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran
  • Zahra Tagharrobi Assistant Professor, Department of Nursing, Trauma Nursing Research Centre, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran
  • Zahra Zahedi Bidgol Nursing (MSN), Trauma Nursing Research Center, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran.
Abstract:

Introduction: Death anxiety can negatively affect recovery among older patients. Objective: study aimed to assess death anxiety and its predictors among older adults during and after hospitalization. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2017 on 241 hospitalized patients aged ≥60 years. The study subjects were consecutively recruited from a hospital in Kashan City, Iran. The required data were collected in the first and the third hospitalization days (T1 and T2) and the seventh day after hospital discharge (T3) using the Mini-Mental State Examination, a Death Anxiety Contributing Factors questionnaire, the Templer Death Anxiety Scale, the Life Satisfaction Index-Z Scale, and the Spiritual Well-Being Scale. For the statistical evaluation, repeated measures Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), the stepwise multiple linear regression, and the rank regression analyses were used. Results: The Mean±SD score of death anxiety at T1–T3 was 6.74±3.81, 7.38±3.64, and 6.18±3.60, respectively. Death anxiety at T2 was significantly greater than T1 and T3 (P=0.0001). Approximately 17.7% of the total variance of death anxiety at T1 was explained by the number of hospitalizations, satisfaction with hospital staff’s performance, and spiritual well-being. The significant predictors of death anxiety at T2 were marital status, satisfaction with hospital staff’s performance, children’s gender, satisfaction with bed arrangement, age, and the number of hospitalizations, which explained 32.1% of the total variance. Moreover, 15.4% of the variance at T3 was explained by satisfaction with bed arrangement and receiving education at hospital discharge. Conclusion: Older adults suffer from moderate death anxiety during and after their hospitalization due to various factors. Managing death anxiety contributing factors is necessary to alleviate it among older adults

Upgrade to premium to download articles

Sign up to access the full text

Already have an account?login

similar resources

Predictors of Social Isolation Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults

Introduction and objective: Social isolation can lead to depression, decline in life expectancy, and increased death anxiety among older adults. Therefore, the present study was conducted to determine the predictors of social isolation in community-dwelling older adults residing in Qazvin, Iran. Materials and Methods: This descriptive and cross sectional study was conducted on 301 older adults...

full text

Anxiety and its correlates among older adults accessing aging services.

OBJECTIVES To assess the characteristics of anxiety in aging services network (ASN) clients. METHODS Interviews were conducted as part of an academic-community partnership for studying the mental health needs of community-dwelling older adults. Participants consisted of ASN clients in Monroe County, NY, that were aged 60 years and older and received an in-home assessment for care management s...

full text

Changes in Cause of Death among the Older Adults and Its Effect on Increasing Life Expectancy in Iran

Background and Objectives: The rate of the increase in life expectancy has slowed down during the last two or three decades in Iran. In this study, we examined the role of change in thecause of death older adults in increasing life expectancy in Iran between 2006 and 2016. Methods: Death data by age, sex, and cause in Iran between 2006 and 2016 were obtained from the death registration and cla...

full text

Narrative Group Therapy to Improve Aging Perceptions and Reduce Thanatophobia (Death Anxiety) in Older Adults

Introduction: Narrative therapy is a psychological intervention focusing on remembering and reconstruction of the people's life events in ways that are of benefit to them, and reduce the impact of challenges in their lives. This study was performed to examine the effect of narrative group therapy (NGT) on aging perceptions and death anxiety among older adults.   Methods: Forty-seven subjects,...

full text

The Effects of Improving Emotional Intelligence on Death Anxiety in Older Adults

Introduction: Death anxiety is one of the main elements in mental health in older adults. Objective: This study aimed to determine the effects of improving emotional intelligence on death anxiety in older adults in Kashan City, Iran. Materials and Methods: This quasi-experimental study was carried out on 60 older adults referred to health clinics in Kashan City, Iran, in 2019. The participant...

full text

Suicide and its prevention among older adults.

OBJECTIVE To review the research on the epidemiology, risk and resiliency, assessment, treatment, and prevention of late-life suicide. METHOD I reviewed mortality statistics. I searched MEDLINE and PsycINFO databases for research on suicide risk and resiliency and for randomized controlled trials with suicidal outcomes. I also reviewed mental health outreach and suicide prevention initiatives...

full text

My Resources

Save resource for easier access later

Save to my library Already added to my library

{@ msg_add @}


Journal title

volume 30  issue 2

pages  101- 110

publication date 2020-03

By following a journal you will be notified via email when a new issue of this journal is published.

Keywords

Hosted on Doprax cloud platform doprax.com

copyright © 2015-2023