Death attitudes in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) patients: A mixed-methods study.

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Palliative Care
• Respiratory Medicine

Background:

• Death attitudes are crucial for the mental health of individuals with somatic illnesses.
• Limited research exists on the multidimensional processing of death among patients.
• Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) experience significant distress, including anxiety about suffocation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how hospitalized COPD patients cope with mortality.
• To explore the multidimensionality of death attitudes in this patient population.
• To assess the applicability of simple interview questions in understanding patients' existential concerns.

Main Methods:

• A mixed-methods approach was employed with 64 hospitalized COPD patients.
• Data collection included a narrative interview with two open-ended questions.
• The Multidimensional Orientation Toward Dying and Death Inventory (MODDI-F) was administered.

Main Results:

• Most patients reported at least three distinct death-related attitudes.
• The study sample scored below average on the 'Rejection of One's Own Death and Dying' subscale of the MODDI-F.
• Assessing death attitudes via simple questions was highly applicable in this COPD cohort.

Conclusions:

• COPD patients exhibit a diverse range of death attitudes.
• The findings suggest a potential tendency to not reject one's own death among these patients.
• Simple interview questions can effectively facilitate discussions on existential matters with patients, aligning with existing literature.