Palliative Care Center for Excellence in Research, University of Maryland, School of Nursing, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
J Assoc Nurses AIDS Care. 2010 Mar-Apr;21(2):99-112. doi: 10.1016/j.jana.2009.07.007. Epub 2009 Dec 16.
As an existential crisis, death anxiety may create suffering and impact quality of life. Based on a sample of 101 patients (63 patients with AIDS and 38 with advanced cancer) and 79 family caregivers (43 AIDS patients' caregivers and 36 cancer patients' caregivers), this study examined the death anxiety of patients with advanced cancer and patients with AIDS and that of their family caregivers and the relationship of death anxiety and quality of life. The results indicated that AIDS patients expressed greater death anxiety than cancer patients, but death anxiety was not different among family caregivers. Both AIDS and cancer patients experienced greater death anxiety than their caregivers. Greater death anxiety was associated with lower quality of life, particularly in the psychological domain for AIDS patients. There were significant correlations between the death anxiety subscales and the quality of life subscales for family caregivers, especially for AIDS caregivers. Interventions that lessen death anxiety may enhance quality of life as death approaches, particularly for AIDS patients and their family caregivers.
作为一种存在危机，死亡焦虑可能会带来痛苦并影响生活质量。本研究以 101 名患者（63 名艾滋病患者和 38 名晚期癌症患者）和 79 名家庭照顾者（43 名艾滋病患者的照顾者和 36 名癌症患者的照顾者）为样本，考察了晚期癌症患者、艾滋病患者及其家庭照顾者的死亡焦虑以及死亡焦虑与生活质量的关系。结果表明，艾滋病患者比癌症患者表现出更大的死亡焦虑，但家庭照顾者之间的死亡焦虑没有差异。艾滋病患者和癌症患者的死亡焦虑均大于其照顾者。较高的死亡焦虑与较低的生活质量相关，特别是对艾滋病患者的心理领域。家庭照顾者的死亡焦虑与生活质量各子量表之间存在显著相关性，特别是对艾滋病照顾者。接近死亡时，减轻死亡焦虑的干预措施可能会提高生活质量，特别是对艾滋病患者及其家庭照顾者而言。
