Evaluation of Approach to Death, Death Anxiety and Trait Anxiety Levels Among Students of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences: A Descriptive Study

Objective: Death and death anxiety are complex emotional experiences associated with an inevitable fact of human life. Healthcare professionals stand out as a group that frequently encounters and deals with death. In the current study, the views of medical, nursing, and midwifery students on death, their levels of death anxiety and trait anxiety, and whether these levels differ according to sociodemographic variables were investigated. Material and Methods: A total of 548 students participated in the descriptive correlational study. Data were collected by means of a questionnaire prepared in the light of the literature, in which the students' experience of death was questioned, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and the Death Anxiety Scale (DAS). Results: Students attributed different meanings to death, had different experiences caring for the terminally ill, and developed different personal solutions to cope with the event of death. The students' STAI score (45.18±7.36) was below average, while the DAS score (7.14±2.00) was about average. Correlation analysis revealed a very weak positive correlation between the STAI score and the DAS score. The STAI and DAS scores were lower in students who were not afraid of death, who wanted to care for the terminally ill, and who wanted to work in the intensive care unit. Conclusion: The findings indicate that students developed diverse meanings of death and adopted various coping strategies and approaches to caring for terminally ill patients. Therefore, it is very important to support students in death education and strategies for coping with death anxiety.