The relationship between death anxiety and fear of recurrence and progression in chronic illness: A systematic review and meta-analysis

IF 3.3 2区医学 Q2 PSYCHIATRY

Journal of Psychosomatic Research Pub Date : 2025-09-11 DOI:10.1016/j.jpsychores.2025.112373

Rachel E. Menzies , Tadgh Connery , Daniel Macdonald , Grazia D. Riotto

{"title":"The relationship between death anxiety and fear of recurrence and progression in chronic illness: A systematic review and meta-analysis","authors":"Rachel E. Menzies , Tadgh Connery , Daniel Macdonald , Grazia D. Riotto","doi":"10.1016/j.jpsychores.2025.112373","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Objective</h3><div>Recent research has identified fear of recurrence and fear of progression (FORP) as common psychosocial issues among people with chronic illnesses. Similarly, growing studies have identified death anxiety as being a key transdiagnostic construct in mental health, particularly in relation to anxiety. However, the relationship between these constructs has received scarce attention. This systematic review and meta-analysis examined the relationship between FORP and death anxiety across chronic illnesses.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>The current review was conducted in line with PRISMA guidelines. We screened 2620 papers for the current systematic review and meta-analysis. In total, 15 studies were included in the final review (<em>N</em><sub>total</sub> <em>=</em> 3506).</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>A meta-analysis revealed a significant and large correlation (<em>r</em> = 0.592) between death anxiety and overall FORP. The type of illness emerged as a significant moderator of this effect, with significantly larger effect sizes found for samples affected by cancer (<em>r</em> = 0.640) compared with other illnesses (<em>r</em> = 0.495). The relationship with death anxiety was equally strong between studies which measured fear of progression versus fear of recurrence. Overall, the studies were generally of high quality with low risk of publication bias.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><div>The current findings support the significant relationship between death anxiety and FORP across numerous illness types. The clinical implications include the need to consider death anxiety in the conceptualisation and management of FORP in chronic illness.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50074,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Psychosomatic Research","volume":"198 ","pages":"Article 112373"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3000,"publicationDate":"2025-09-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Psychosomatic Research","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S002239992500337X","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"PSYCHIATRY","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Objective

Recent research has identified fear of recurrence and fear of progression (FORP) as common psychosocial issues among people with chronic illnesses. Similarly, growing studies have identified death anxiety as being a key transdiagnostic construct in mental health, particularly in relation to anxiety. However, the relationship between these constructs has received scarce attention. This systematic review and meta-analysis examined the relationship between FORP and death anxiety across chronic illnesses.

Methods

The current review was conducted in line with PRISMA guidelines. We screened 2620 papers for the current systematic review and meta-analysis. In total, 15 studies were included in the final review (N_total = 3506).

Results

A meta-analysis revealed a significant and large correlation (r = 0.592) between death anxiety and overall FORP. The type of illness emerged as a significant moderator of this effect, with significantly larger effect sizes found for samples affected by cancer (r = 0.640) compared with other illnesses (r = 0.495). The relationship with death anxiety was equally strong between studies which measured fear of progression versus fear of recurrence. Overall, the studies were generally of high quality with low risk of publication bias.

Conclusions

The current findings support the significant relationship between death anxiety and FORP across numerous illness types. The clinical implications include the need to consider death anxiety in the conceptualisation and management of FORP in chronic illness.

查看原文本刊更多论文

死亡焦虑与慢性疾病复发和进展恐惧之间的关系：一项系统回顾和荟萃分析。

目的：最近的研究已经确定复发恐惧和进展恐惧（FORP）是慢性疾病患者常见的社会心理问题。同样，越来越多的研究已经确定死亡焦虑是心理健康的一个关键的跨诊断结构，特别是与焦虑有关。然而，这些构念之间的关系却很少受到关注。本系统综述和荟萃分析研究了慢性疾病中FORP和死亡焦虑之间的关系。方法：本综述按照PRISMA指南进行。我们筛选了2620篇论文进行当前的系统综述和荟萃分析。最终综述共纳入15项研究（Ntotal = 3506）。结果：荟萃分析显示死亡焦虑与总体FORP之间存在显著且较大的相关性（r = 0.592）。与其他疾病（r = 0.495）相比，受癌症影响的样本（r = 0.640）的效应值明显更大。与死亡焦虑的关系在测量对进展的恐惧和对复发的恐惧的研究中同样强烈。总体而言，这些研究总体上质量高，发表偏倚风险低。结论：目前的研究结果支持死亡焦虑和FORP在许多疾病类型之间的显著关系。临床意义包括在慢性疾病FORP的概念化和管理中需要考虑死亡焦虑。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Journal of Psychosomatic Research 医学-精神病学

CiteScore

7.40

自引率

6.40%

发文量

314

审稿时长

6.2 weeks

期刊介绍： The Journal of Psychosomatic Research is a multidisciplinary research journal covering all aspects of the relationships between psychology and medicine. The scope is broad and ranges from basic human biological and psychological research to evaluations of treatment and services. Papers will normally be concerned with illness or patients rather than studies of healthy populations. Studies concerning special populations, such as the elderly and children and adolescents, are welcome. In addition to peer-reviewed original papers, the journal publishes editorials, reviews, and other papers related to the journal''s aims.