J Nurs Acad Soc.  1991 Dec;21(3):418-435.

A Study on the Effects of Hospice Care for the Quality of Life of the Terminally - Ill Patients

• So WS
• Cho KJ

Abstract

The purposes of this study were to find out the effects of hospice care for the quality of life of the terminally-ill patients and to analyze the relationship between the effect of hospice care and the general characteristics of subjects. The subjects of the study were 32 terminally-ill patients hospitalized in the two general hospitals in Seoul, which have the hospice care unit. The data were collected using the questionnaire with interviews. The were done from Sept. 28, 1989 to March 20, 1991. The tools used for the research were 17-item questionnaire regarding general characteristics, 42-item questionnaire about the quality of life(11-item for physical, 16 for psychosocial, and 15 for spiritual). The questionnaires were to measure the quality of life by means of the measure instruments of Betty R. Farwell(1989), Stein Kaasa(1989), Palm Pamela(1987), and Hwa-sook Choi(1987). 42 items were used after pre-test. In accordance with each purpose in this study, frequency and percentage were used on the general characteristics of subjects. ANOVA, t-test, and Pearson correlation were employed to evaluate the general characteristics of subjects and different level of quality of life before-and-after hospice care. The results of the study may be summarized as follows : 1. The effects of hospice care. Main Hypothesis : "The quality of life of the terminally-ill patients will be different from before-and-after hospice care" was supported(t=6.82, df=31, p=.000). Sub Hypothesis 1 : "The quality of life of the terminally-ill patients in the physical aspects will be different from before-and-after hospice care" was not supported(t=0.07, df=31, p=.946). Sub Hypothesis 2 : "The quality of life of the terminally-ill patients in the psychosocial aspects will be different from before-and-after hospice care" was supported(t=4.69, df=31, p=.000). 2. Relationship between the general characteristics of subjects and the effects of hospice care. (1) The more the number of family, the higher the quality of life in the number psychosocial aspects. (2) The higher the age of the patient, the lower the quality of life in the psychosocial aspects. (3) The high educational level of patients enjoy the high quality of life in general. (4) The high religious level of patients enjoy the high quality of life in the spiritual aspects. As a results of analysis above : 1. The most effective aspects of the hospice care to the terminally-ill patients was spiritual aspects. The next effective aspects was psychosocial area. 2. The least effective aspects of the hospice care to the terminally-ill patients was physical aspects. Further study is needed to improve the quality of life in the physical aspects.

MeSH Terms

Hospice Care*
Hospices*
Hospitals, General
Humans
Quality of Life*
Surveys and Questionnaires
Seoul