[Patients in the terminal phase and their caregivers as a "dyad": how do they perceive the finite stage of life, how do they cope with it?--Results of a longitudinal study].

50 patients in the terminal phase who were treated at home by medical doctors, and their caregivers (one caregiver a family) were interviewed up to six times in a longitudinal study. Additionally, scales for assessing degree of independence in daily living, intensity of pain, and engagement in intra- and extrafamilial relationships were used. --Interindividual differences in perceiving (own) finitude and in coping with it were high in the group of patients and caregivers. Moreover, patients' and caregivers' forms of perceiving and coping with finitude were related. These relations point to the necessity of a "dyadic" perspective in analyzing patterns of perceiving and coping with finitude. --In the group of patients, perceiving own finitude and coping with it was also related to intensity of pain, degree of independence in daily life, degree of perceived social integration, and to the feeling of being needed. Results of our study do not confirm the assumption that there is a characteristic pattern of perceiving and coping with finitude in terminally ill patients and their caregivers.