The correlation between death anxiety and anxiety in elderly with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Abstract

Purpose: This study aims to determine the correlation between death anxiety and anxiety in elderly patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Materials and methods: This study has been conducted on the individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who were over 65 years. They received outpatient and inpatient treatment at a hospital. 171 elderly persons that were determined via power analysis were included in the research. Data was collected using a survey form, Death Anxiety Scale, State Anxiety Scale, and Trait anxiety scale. We used the following test statistics: t-test, ANOVA and Kruskal-Wallis Variance Analysis, and Pearson Correlation Test analysis. Results: 66.1 percent (113) of the participants are male and 33.9%(58) female; mean age is 726.83. The mean death anxiety score of the participants is 9.044.02. The mean State Anxiety score of elderly individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is 44.81.29; the trait anxiety mean score is 48.851.13. In those chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients, we found a significant (p<0.001) correlation between state and trait anxiety, and that the latter two are high in cases where death anxiety is high. Conclusion: We found that death anxiety and anxiety are high in patients with COPD.