The effect of disease perception on death anxiety in individuals with chronic obstructive lung disease

This study was conducted to determine the effect of illness perception on death anxiety of individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The research is of descriptive type. The population of the study consisted of individuals diagnosed with COPD who were hospitalized between 01.08.2021 and 01.02.2022 in the "Chest Diseases Clinic" of two public hospitals, and the sample consisted of individuals who met the inclusion criteria. The sample number was determined as 94 by power analysis and the research was carried out with 97 participants. Data; Introductory Information Form was obtained by using the Illness Perception Scale and the Death Anxiety Scale. The average age of the participants is 70.11 years, 71.1% of them are 65 years and older, 70.1% are male, 45.4% perceive their health as "moderate". 81.4% of the participants were in stage 3 and 4 of COPD, and they experienced the most symptoms of difficulty in breathing, wheezing, fatigue, loss of strength and difficulty sleeping, respectively. The three most important reasons for the diseases of the participants were determined as smoking, environmental pollution and stress or anxiety. It has been determined that individuals with good disease perception understand their diseases and provide better control of treatment. Moderate death anxiety was determined in 40.2% of the participants. The death anxiety score showed a significant difference only for the health perception variable, and the death anxiety scores of the participants who perceived their health as "bad" were significantly higher than those who perceived their health as "good" (p<0.05). It was determined that the death anxiety score showed a significant difference compared to the hospitalization status due to COPD and was significantly higher in those hospitalized in the last year (p<0.05). When the participants' perception of illness and death anxiety scores were compared; It was determined that the death anxiety increased as the disease was thought to be chronic. A significant negative relationship was determined between death anxiety and personal control and treatment control. It has been determined that as individuals' perceptions that they can control their diseases increase and their positive perceptions that the disease can be controlled with treatment increase, death anxiety decreases. It was determined that there was a significant positive relationship between death anxiety and emotional representations, and that death anxiety increased as their anxiety about their illness increased.