Death Anxiety and Concept of Good Death in the Elderly

Abstract

We aimed to determine what elderly individuals think about good death and their level of anxiety about death in order to guide people and families working with elderly individuals. Materials and Method: 420 volunteer elderly participated in the study. Questionnaires were conducted using face to face interview technique. The measured values were calculated as arithmetic mean and standard deviation, while values determined by counting as number and percent. The significance of the difference between the means of the groups was evaluated using the T-test for 2-independent samples for two measured values, the One-Way ANOVA test for comparison of three and more measured variables, and the Tukey's post-hoc test for determining the factor that caused the significance. Results: The importance given to psychosocial and spiritual aspect, personal control and clinical aspect of death were found to be high in elderly individuals, having a near death experience and having children are factors that increase death anxiety of elderly people. Elderly women have higher death anxiety, and death anxiety decreases with age. It was found that thinking of death frequently increases death anxiety. Conclusion: As a decent and fair life befitting human dignity is an indispensable right for all people, decisions regarding the last period of life and the desire for a good death are equally indispensable rights for all people and all age groups, and applications in practice should be shaped according to these needs.

Determination of Death Anxiety and Death-Related Depression Levels in the Elderly During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Keskin et al (2018) discovered that death anxiety was more significant among divorced or lonely participants, contrary to the study’s findings. Similar to the findings of this study, Say Şahin and Örnek Büken (2020) discovered that having a child is one of the factors that enhances death anxiety in the elderly. The high rate of death anxiety and depression in married people and those living with their children is thought to be due to the high responsibilities of the married, particularly the elderly living with their children, as well as the fear of infecting their loved ones with COVID-19 or losing them due to infection.…”

“…There are many results in the literature regarding how changes in age groups or age affect death anxiety and the level of death-related depression ( Meng et al, 2020 ; Ertekin Pınar & Demirel, 2020 ; Say Şahin & Örnek Büken, 2020 ; Keskin et al, 2018 ). For example, there are studies in the literature showing that death anxiety decreases as age increases in the elderly ( Ertekin Pınar & Demirel, 2020 ; Say Şahin & Örnek Büken, 2020 ). At the same time, there are studies in the literature that do not show that death anxiety decreases as age increases in the elderly ( Meng et al, 2020 ; Keskin et al, 2018 ) that death anxiety decreases in the elderly increases as they age.…”

“…The study indicated that the TDAS and DDS mean scores of women were significantly higher than those of men (Table 3, p < 0.05). Keskin et al (2018) discovered a relationship between gender and death anxiety, Kurt Magrebi and Akçay (2020) discovered no relationship between gender and death anxiety and death-related depression, and Say Şahin and Örnek Büken (2020) discovered that older women had higher levels of death anxiety, while Ertekin Pınar and Demirel (2020) discovered in their study that men have a higher level of death anxiety. Studies reveal that the effect/relation of gender on death anxiety and death-related depression varies depending on the study.…”

Examination of Pandemic Awareness, Death Anxiety, and Spiritual Well-Being in Elderly Individuals

“…In their study on elderly individuals in Iran, Dadfar et al (2016) found that the total death anxiety scores of elderly females were significantly higher than those of male. Similarly, Keskin et al (2018) , Say Şahin and Örnek Büken (2020) , Hashim et al (2021) , and Sharma et al (2019) also determined a significant difference in death anxiety levels according to gender and revealed that females experienced higher levels of death anxiety. Considering female’s roles in the family and that they are more emotional and their disease status may differ, it is expected that their levels of death anxiety will be higher.…”

“…In their study, Bastani et al (2016) observed that death anxiety differed according to age, and elderly participants at higher ages (70–75) had higher death anxiety scores. In their study on elderly individuals, Say Şahin and Örnek Büken (2020) determined that older individuals (85 years and older) had lower death anxiety scores. This result is thought to arise from the fact that older individuals are closer to death, and the pandemic causes higher rates of death in elderly individuals.…”