Perspectives of Glioblastoma Patients on Death and Dying: A Qualitative Study

Glioblastoma (GBM) is a terminal illness and associated with poor prognosis. Brain cancer creates significant traumatic effects including death and dying fears not only on patients but also in Asia's tightly knitted families. Very few studies made attempt to elicit the death and dying issues among brain cancer patients. Therefore, the study aimed to explore the patient's perspectives on death and dying among GBM patients during hospitalization.

The study used qualitative approach. Purposive sampling was used to enroll 31 consented patients for in depth interviews. The in-depth interviews were guided by pre-designed open ended guidelines and took 45 min to 1 h. All interviews were conducted in the private room in the hospital. Interviews were manually documented soon after the interview. Thematic analysis was used to generate themes. R (QOL) software was used for data analysis.

Four themes were emerged from the analysis; (i). Understanding about illness (ii). Personal views and feelings on death and dying (iii). Coping with fear of death and dying (iv). Need for early preparation to face death and dying fears.

Psychosocial interventions on early death preparation programs are recommended for GBM patients in the in-patient care. Yet, it should be handled carefully and sensitively, otherwise, it creates more psychological and emotional harm than the illness per se.