A meta-analysis of death anxiety in people living with or beyond cancer: the important role of culture

Lo C, Hales S, Zimmermann C, Gagliese L, Rydall A, Rodin G. Measuring death-related anxiety in advanced cancer: preliminary psychometrics of the death and dying distress scale. J Pediatr Hematol Oncol. 2011;33(Suppl 2):S140–5. https://doi.org/10.1097/MPH.0b013e318230e1fd.

Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Allemani C, Matsuda T, Di Carlo V, Harewood R, Matz M, Nikšić M, et al. Global surveillance of trends in cancer survival 2000–14 (CONCORD-3): analysis of individual records for 37 513 025 patients diagnosed with one of 18 cancers from 322 population-based registries in 71 countries. Lancet. 2018;391(10125):1023–75. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(17)33326-3.

Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Cancer in Australia 2021. Canberra: AIHW; 2021.

Google Scholar 

Robb KA, Simon AE, Miles A, Wardle J. Public perceptions of cancer: a qualitative study of the balance of positive and negative beliefs. BMJ Open. 2014;4(7): e005434. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2014-005434.

Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Moser RP, Arndt J, Han PK, Waters EA, Amsellem M, Hesse BW. Perceptions of cancer as a death sentence: prevalence and consequences. J Health Psychol. 2014;19(12):1518–24. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359105313494924.

Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Simonelli LE, Siegel SD, Duffy NM. Fear of cancer recurrence: a theoretical review and its relevance for clinical presentation and management. Psychooncology. 2017;26(10):1444–54. https://doi.org/10.1002/pon.4168.

Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Brown AJ, Shen MJ, Ramondetta LM, Bodurka DC, Giuntoli RL 2nd, Diaz-Montes T. Does death anxiety affect end-of-life care discussions? Int J Gynecol Cancer. 2014;24(8):1521–6. https://doi.org/10.1097/IGC.0000000000000250.

Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Soleimani MA, Lehto RH, Negarandeh R, Bahrami N, Nia HS. Relationships between death anxiety and quality of life in Iranian patients with cancer. Asia-Pac J Oncol Nurs. 2016;3(2):183–91. https://doi.org/10.4103/2347-5625.182935.

Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Iverach L, Menzies RG, Menzies RE. Death anxiety and its role in psychopathology: reviewing the status of a transdiagnostic construct. Clin Psychol Rev. 2014;34(7):580–93. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2014.09.002.

Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Sharpe L, Curran L, Butow P, Thewes B. Fear of cancer recurrence and death anxiety. Psychooncology. 2018;27(11):2559–65. https://doi.org/10.1002/pon.4783.

Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Soleimani MA, Bahrami N, Allen KA, Alimoradi Z. Death anxiety in patients with cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Eur J Oncol Nurs. 2020;48: 101803. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejon.2020.101803.

Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Shakeri B, Abdi K, Bagi M, Dalvand S, Shahriari H, Sadeghi S, et al. A systematic review and meta-analysis of death anxiety among Iranian patients with cancer. Omega (Westport). 2024;89(1):247–58. https://doi.org/10.1177/00302228211070400.

Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Grossman CH, Brooker J, Michael N, Kissane D. Death anxiety interventions in patients with advanced cancer: a systematic review. Palliat Med. 2018;32(1):172–84. https://doi.org/10.1177/0269216317722123.

Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Lo C, Hales S, Jung J, Chiu A, Panday T, Rydall A, et al. Managing cancer and living meaningfully (CALM): phase 2 trial of a brief individual psychotherapy for patients with advanced cancer. Palliat Med. 2014;28(3):234–42. https://doi.org/10.1177/0269216313507757.

Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Li Y, Dong W, Tang H, Guo X, Wu S, Lu G, et al. Correlates of death anxiety for patients with cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Clin Nurs. 2024;33(5):1933–47. https://doi.org/10.1111/jocn.17021.

Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Gire J. How death imitates life: cultural influences on conceptions of death and dying. online readings in psychology and culture. 2002;6. https://doi.org/10.9707/2307-0919.1120.

Gutiérrez IT, Menendez D, Jiang MJ, Hernandez IG, Miller P, Rosengren KS. Embracing death: Mexican parent and child perspectives on death. Child Dev. 2020;91(2):e491–511. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13263.

Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Walter T. Why different countries manage death differently: a comparative analysis of modern urban societies. Br J Sociol. 2012;63(1):123–45. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-4446.2011.01396.x.

Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Plusnin N, Kashima ES, Li Y, Lam BCP, Han S. Avoidant attachment as a panacea against collective mortality concerns: a cross-cultural comparison between individualist and collectivist cultures. J Cross-Cult Psychol. 2021;52(4):354–71. https://doi.org/10.1177/00220221211005075.

Article  Google Scholar 

Pandya A-k, Kathuria T. Death anxiety, religiosity and culture: implications for therapeutic process and future research. Religions. 2021;12(1): 61. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12010061.

Article  Google Scholar 

Kashima ES, Halloran M, Yuki M, Kashima Y. The effects of personal and collective mortality salience on individualism: comparing Australians and Japanese with higher and lower self-esteem. J Exp Soc Psychol. 2004;40(3):384–92. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2003.07.007.

Article  Google Scholar 

Joanna Briggs Institute. Critical appraisal tools [Internet]. 2020 [cited 2025 Apr 2]. Available from: https://jbi.global/critical-appraisal-tools.

Borenstein M, Hedges LV, Higgins J, Rothstein H. Comprehensive meta-analysis version 4 [computer software]. Englewood, NJ: Biostat; 2022.

Philipp R, Mehnert-Theuerkauf A, Koranyi S, Härter M, Vehling S. The role of attachment avoidance: a longitudinal mediation model predicting existential distress in patients with advanced cancer. Psychooncology. 2021;30(7):1059–67. https://doi.org/10.1002/pon.5640.

Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Abbas Q, Kanwal U, Saeed W, Khan MU, Shahzadi M, Faran M. Relationship of Muslim religiosity and death anxiety with the mediating effect of optimism and depression among cancer patients in Pakistan. J Relig Health. 2022;61(2):1418–36. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-021-01415-2.

Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Yousefi Afrashteh M, Masoumi S. Psychological well-being and death anxiety among breast cancer survivors during the Covid-19 pandemic: the mediating role of self-compassion. BMC Womens Health. 2021;21(1):387. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12905-021-01533-9.

Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

An E, Lo C, Hales S, Zimmermann C, Rodin G. Demoralization and death anxiety in advanced cancer. Psychooncology. 2018;27(11):2566–72. https://doi.org/10.1002/pon.4843.

Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Berlin P, von Blanckenburg P. Death anxiety as general factor to fear of cancer recurrence. Psychooncology. 2022;31(9):1527–35. https://doi.org/10.1002/pon.5974.

Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Berlin P, Leppin N, Nagelschmidt K, Seifart C, Rief W, von Blanckenburg P. Development and validation of the readiness for end-of-life conversations (REOLC) scale. Front Psychol. 2021;12: 662654. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.662654.

Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Bibi A, Khalid MA. Death anxiety, perceived social support, and demographic correlates of patients with breast cancer in Pakistan. Death Stud. 2020;44(12):787–92.

Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Bovero A, Zerbinati L, Grassi L, Mah K, Rodin G, Hales S, et al. The Italian validation of the death and dying distress scale. Palliat Support Care. 2023;21(2):283–91. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2019.1614108.

Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Braun SE, Aslanzadeh FJ, Thacker L, Loughan AR. Examining fear of cancer recurrence in primary brain tumor patients and their caregivers using the actor-partner interdependence model. Psychooncology. 2021;30(7):1120–8. https://doi.org/10.1002/pon.5659.

Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Coutts-Bain D, Sharpe L, Russell H. Death anxiety predicts fear of cancer recurrence and progression in ovarian cancer patients over and above other cognitive factors. J Behav Med. 2023;46(6):1023–31. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-023-00422-w.

Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Curran L, Sharpe L

Comments (0)

No login
gif