Older adults' attitudes toward death: links to perceptions of health and concerns about end-of-life issues.
The current study had two primary goals, to determine whether: 1) self-rated mental and physical health, pain, and experience with health problems were predictors of elderly adults' attitudes toward death; and 2) death attitudes predict end-of-life medical treatment concerns. Participants were 109 adults, 65 years of age or older (M=78.74 years), recruited from the local community. Regression analysis indicated that poorer perceived physical health predicted a greater likelihood of viewing death as an escape, and poorer perceived mental health predicted a greater fear of death. Viewing death as an escape and fearing death predicted end-of-life medical treatment concerns; a greater endorsement of either attitude predicted more concern. Possible explanations for the links between perceived health, attitudes toward death, and concern about end-of-life issues are suggested.
Lockhart
L K
LK
Department of Psychology & Sociology, MSC 177, Texas A&M University, Kingsville, Kingsville, TX 78363, USA.
Bookwala
J
J
Fagerlin
A
A
Coppola
K M
KM
Ditto
P H
PH
Danks
J H
JH
Smucker
W D
WD
D000368:Aged / Q000523:psychology*; D001293:Attitude to Death; D001294:Attitude to Health; D006262:Health; D006801:Humans; D008603:Mental Health; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D013727:Terminal Care / Q000523:psychology*