What do laypersons consider as a good death.

GOALS: This study was designed to understand laypersons' attitude of good death. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A 53-item Good-Death Questionnaire (GDQ) was generated by applying "good-death principles" and past research on good death in Chinese people. MAIN RESULTS: A total of 184 adults completed the questionnaire. The Cronbach's alpha for the GDQ was 0.96. Factor analysis produced five factors: autonomy and choice, wish fulfillment, death preparation, spiritual support and afterlife, and symptom control. Elderly people had higher scores in "autonomy" than people aged < or = 40 (52.71 +/- 5.94 vs. 56.71 +/- 3.82, P = 0.012). Chaplains had higher scores in "death preparation" than volunteers (76.09 +/- 4.44 vs. 70.46 +/- 6.49, P = 0.011) and higher scores in "spiritual support" than volunteer and farmers-workers-businessmen (32.97 +/- 2.49 vs. 28.08 +/- 5.06 and 29.69 +/- 5.05, P = 0.002). People with Buddhist religious belief had higher scores in "spiritual support" than people without religious belief (31.10 +/- 3.99 vs. 25.73 +/- 3.13; P < 0.001). Religious devotion was positively related to "death preparation" and "spiritual support." People who had witnessed death had lower scores of "autonomy and choice" than the inexperienced (55.41 +/- 4.81 vs. 57.06 +/- 3.85; P = 0.032). CONCLUSIONS: Our results identified some major characteristics of good-death attitude among laypersons. Religious devotion has a positive impact on the attitude of good death.

The influence of awareness of terminal condition on spiritual well-being in terminal cancer patients.

We developed a Spirituality Transcendence Measure (STM) and studied whether awareness of terminal illness affects spiritual well-being in terminal cancer patients. Three sources of spiritual transcendence--the situational, the moral and biographical, and the religious aspect--were assessed in the STM. Cronbach's alpha of the STM was 0.95, and the principle axis factor analysis extracted only one factor. Thirty-seven terminal cancer patients with male predominance (59.5%) were studied. Awareness of terminal illness was associated with a higher total STM score (Z = -2.21, P = 0.027), along with the individual scores for each of the three transcendences (Z = -2.39, P = 0.017; Z = -2.71, P = 0.007; and Z = -1.96, P = 0.050). Acceptance of death was associated with a higher situational score (Z = 2.01, P = 0.046) and a higher religious score (Z = -2.27, P = 0.023). Announcement of testament was associated with a higher situational score (Z = -2.30, P = 0.021). We conclude that awareness of terminal illness is associated with spiritual well-being. Telling the complete truth is necessary even when dealing with terminal conditions.