Factors Associated with Death Anxiety among Community Dwelling Older Adults

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.