A burden to others: a common source of distress for the terminally ill.
Recent research into the desire for death among people with terminal illness has begun to recognize the importance of "feeling oneself a burden to others" as a factor in suicidal behaviour. In this study, 69 patients with advanced cancer underwent semi-structured interviews. The sense of self-perceived burden was found to be a common experience, reported by 39.1% of participants as a minimal or mild concern and by 38% as a moderate to extreme concern. The sense of burden showed a low correlation with physical symptoms (r = 0.02-0.24) and higher correlations with psychological problems (r = 0.35-0.39) and existential issues (r = 0.45-0.49). Comparisons of participants with high or low levels of self-perceived burden showed the importance of this factor for overall quality of life. In summary, self-perceived burden is an important but underestimated dimension of social cognition in the medically ill.
Wilson
Keith G
KG
Institute for Rehabilitation Research and Development, The Rehabilitation Centre, The Ottawa Hospital, Ottawa, ON, Canada. kewilson@ottawahospital.on.ca
Curran
Dorothyann
D
McPherson
Christine J
CJ
D000368:Aged; D002170:Canada / Q000453:epidemiology; D017281:Cost of Illness; D005195:Family Relations; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology; D010166:Palliative Care; D012044:Regression Analysis; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D013405:Suicide / Q000523:psychology*; D019452:Terminally Ill / Q000523:psychology*