Death Anxiety Status and Coping Strategies of Front Line Medical Staff During the Public Health Emergencies

During the process of responding to epidemics stemming from sudden public health emergencies, front line medical staff often experience death anxiety to varying degrees; however, this phenomenon has not been the focus of extensive attention. In this study, using the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic as a case example, we aimed to investigate the status of death anxiety and corresponding coping strategies among front line medical staff within the context of public health emergencies.

By convenient sampling, 170 front line medical staff were recruited into this study. The self-made general data questionnaire, the Death Attitude Profile-Revised scale, death anxiety and coping during the epidemic questionnaire were used as tools for questionnaire survey.

Our results indicate that the total score of the DAP-R scale for front line medical staff was 96.64 ± 14.23. Among the five dimensions of the scale, the scores in the neutral acceptance (4.07 ± 0.52) and death avoidance (3.27 ± 0.77) dimensions are relatively high. 81.2% participants reported that combating the pandemic could lead to more positive attitudes towards death. Medical staff experienced serious death anxiety before traveling to epidemic areas and after hearing about the infection of colleagues. In coping with death anxiety, helpful information support included "Information on the disease treatment and prevention" (70.59%) and "Positive news about fighting against the COVID-19" (66.47%). "Communication between medical teams" (71.76%) and "reading supporting information" (68.24%) were considered useful interventions that could ameliorate death anxiety.

Death anxiety existed throughout the entire cycle of epidemic control and management, and medical staff required support to overcome it. The data generated in this study provide a reference to inform development of death education and support programs according to the needs of the medical staff and the characteristics of public health emergencies.