Factors Associated with Death Anxiety among Community Dwelling Older Adults

Document Type : Research articles

Authors

Gerontological Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Alexandria University

Abstract

Death anxiety is a concept used to indicate concern about death awareness. High level of death
anxiety has negative consequences on elderly people and may lead to maladaptation, dissatisfaction
with life, feeling of despair or loss and lead to low self-esteem. Objective: Identify the factors
associated with death anxiety among community dwelling older adults. Setting: The study was
conducted at two of the post offices affiliated to the Ministry of communications and information
technology in Alexandria, namely Moharram Bek and Sidi Bishr post offices. Subjects: 130 male and
female older adults aged 60 years and more, living in the community, identified with death anxiety,
able to communicate and willing to participate in the study. Tools: Five tools were used namely, The
Arabic Scale of Death Anxiety (ASDA), Older Adults' Socio-Demographic and health well-being
Structured Interview Schedule, Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS),
Religious Commitment Inventory-10 (RCI-10), and the Satisfaction with Life scale. Results: The main
findings of the current study revealed that death anxiety is prevalent among older adults with different
levels either low, moderate, or high level. A strong negative relation between death anxiety and
perceived physical and psychological wellbeing, Religious commitment, Perceived Social Support,
and Satisfaction with life. Conclusion: It can be concluded that; age, education, presence of chronic
diseases, perceived physical and psychological wellbeing, religious commitment, satisfaction with life
and social support affected the occurrence of death anxiety among older adults. Recommendations:
Counseling older adults about their anxiety related to death in order to help them cope with the
situation. Emphasizing the importance of social support to decrease death anxiety.

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