Death Anxiety and Religiosity Among Patients with Chronic Illnesses: A Qualitative Perspective

Abstract

The current research was designed to explore the patients’ perspective having chronic illnesses about death anxiety and religiosity through semi-structured interviews. The patients with heart diseases and diabetes, age ranges between 25-60 years were the target population. Total 30 patients (15 from each disease) were selected through the purposive sampling technique from 4 cities of Pakistan. Semi-structured interviews were conducted based on interview guide. The interview guides was consisted of 18 open-ended questions on death anxiety and religiosity. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. Four main themes of death perception, disease and quality of life, concept about religion, role of religious practices and 11 sub-themes were derived from the data.The findings of the current study showed that chronic illnesses effect the death anxiety, mental and physical health as well as religiosity in the patients. The findings of the current study can be used to develop counseling and psychological intervention programsin order to improve the quality of life of patients with chronic illness.