Determination of the attitude towards death and the anxiety status of the relatives of patients in palliative care

This study was designed as a descriptive cross-sectional study in order to determine the attitude towards death and the anxiety status of patient relatives in the palliative care center of a research and practice hospital located in a province in the Central Black Sea Region. Since there is a limited number of studies in the literature on the thoughts of patients and their relatives about death, it is aimed that this study can set light on the subjects such as thoughts, attitudes and anxiety status of patient relatives towards death. In this sense, 158 patient relatives, of which 41 were male and 117 were female, followed up in Tokat Gaziosmanpaşa University Palliative Care Practice and Research Center participated in the study between May 3, 2021, and February 3 2022. The study's data were collected through Personal Information Form, Death Attitudes Profile – Revised(DAP-R), and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI). Data collection tools were filled in face-to-face via a Google form after obtaining online consent from the relatives of the patients hospitalized in the palliative care center, who were not prevented from participating in the study due to the pandemic conditions, volunteered to participate in the study. In the analysis of the data, SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) for Windows 25.0 was used. For the analysis of descriptive data, number, percentage, minimum, maximum, median, mean, standard deviation, independent groups t-test and One Way Anova Analysis, Post-Hoc tests (Tukey HSD) and Tamhane's were used. In order to examine the relationship between data, the Pearson Correlation Analysis was applied. For the significance level, p<0.05was adopted. It was determined that the mean age of the relatives of the patients participating in the study was 46.93±13.69 years. 74.1% of patient relatives are women and 25.9% are men. 86.1% of the patient relatives were the relatives of patients with cancer; 58.9% were primary caregivers; and 94.3% reported that they have been informed about the patient's situation and the possible consequences of the disease. While the percentage of the patient's relatives who have reported that they did not discuss the possible death of the patient among the family members was 50.6%, 91.81% of the patient's relatives reported that the patient should not be informed about when they will possibly die. The mean scores of the patients' relatives on DAP-R were 117.21±18.97, and the mean BAI scores were 8.44±6.57. When the attitudes of the patient's relatives towards death were evaluated through DAP-R, the DAP-R score means of the patients who have been informed about the condition and the prognosis of the patient were significantly lower than the others. A statistically significant relationship has been found between the total and sub-dimension mean scores of the relatives of the patients in DAP-R and the mean BAI scores (p<0.05). It was found that as the mean scores of Escape Acceptance, Fear of Death, and Avoidance of Death, which are the total and sub-dimensions of DAP-R, increase, the mean BAI scores of the relatives of the patients also increase. It has been found that the patient relatives who participated in our study adopt rather an accepting attitude and show low levels of anxiety towards death. It is suggested that the health professionals working in the palliative care facilities talk to patient relatives about death, inform them and take action for the relatives of patients who have negative attitudes and anxiety towards death. Keywords: Anxiety, Relatives, Loss, Palliative Care, Death, Attitude Towards Death,