Death Anxiety, Disclosure Behaviors, and Attitudes of Oncologists toward Terminal Care

Relationships among death anxiety, disclosure behaviors, and attitudes of oncologists toward terminal care were examined by means of a questionnaire responded to by ninety-nine members of the Oncology Society of New Jersey. Death anxiety scores were lower for oncologists than typically reported for physicians in general. Oncologists with low death anxiety scores related to dying patients more effectively than oncologists with high death anxiety scores. Short-term repeated exposure to dying patients resulted in comfort with dying patients while long-term repeated exposure resulted in discomfort. Disclosure to patients' families was clearly a more frequently reported behavior than disclosure to the patient. Oncologists who did not always disclose a terminal prognosis to the patient reported difficulty with disclosure, tried to avoid direct disclosure, and were not as comfortable with dying patients as with other patients.