J Korean Acad Psychiatr Ment Health Nurs.  2010 Mar;19(1):96-105. 10.12934/jkpmhn.2010.19.1.96.

Psychological and Spiritual Factors Associated with Death Anxiety of Elderly People Living at Home

• Kim KH
• Kwon HJ
• Choi MH
• Park YJ
• Kim SK

• KMID: 2321811
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.12934/jkpmhn.2010.19.1.96

Abstract

PURPOSE
The study was done to investigate psychological spiritual factors related to death anxiety of elderly living at home.
METHODS
A descriptive correlation study was conducted. The participants were 494 living at home elderly people conveniently selected in Seoul and Kyunggi province. Data were collected using self-administered questionnaires. Descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, correlation and stepwise multiple regression were used for data analysis.
RESULTS
The death anxiety positively correlated with depression and negatively with self-integrity, readiness of death, belief in life after death, and spiritual well-being. The factors influencing death anxiety were self-integrity, readiness of death, depression, and belief in life after death. Those four variables explained 21.6% of death anxiety.
CONCLUSION
It is expected to serve as a useful tool for nurses who serve elderly people in the clinical field and local community to help get a better understanding of death, and it is expected to lay a theoretical foundation for the development of strategies geared toward alleviating death anxiety.

Keyword

Death; Anxiety; Aged

MeSH Terms

Aged*
Anxiety*
Depression
Gyeonggi-do
Humans
Surveys and Questionnaires
Seoul
Statistics as Topic

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