2024/12/12 by Eman Arafa Hassan, Shimmaa Mohamed Elsayed, Heba Hashem Monged +1 · 1 voice
Medicine · #Frailty in Older Adults #Intensive Care Unit Cognitive Disorders #Palliative Care and End-of-Life Issues
paper · doi:10.1111/nicc.13219
openalex publication_date 2024/12/12 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/25
BACKGROUND: Frailty, a geriatric syndrome characterized by decreased resilience, is a known risk factor for mortality in critical care settings and can significantly impact a patient's perception of their own health and prognosis. AIM: To explore the relationship between frailty and fear of death in geriatric patients admitted to critical care units. STUDY DESIGN: A convergent parallel mixed methods design was applied. METHODS: Data were collected from 247 geriatric patients in critical care units from March 2023 to February 2024. Quantitative data included clinical frailty score and death anxiety questionnaire. Qualitative data were gathered through semi-structured interviews with a subset of 34 participants. Quantitative analysis involved descriptive statistics, correlation analysis and multiple linear regression. Qualitative data were analysed thematically using Braun and Clarke's approach. RESULTS: Quantitative analysis revealed a positive significant correlation between frailty and death anxiety (r = 0.19, p = 0.003). Additionally, regression analysis identified age (B = 0.69, 95% CI [0.22, 1.15], p = 0.004), lack of social support (B = 2.88, 95% CI [0.28, 5.47], p = 0.030), lower income (B = -5.33, 95% CI [-9.03, -1.63], p = 0.005) and higher frailty scores (B = 0.83, 95% CI [0.10, 1.56], p = 0.025) as significant predictors of increased death anxiety. Qualitative findings yielded four key themes: the impact of frailty on perception of mortality, the psychological and emotional dimensions of fear of death, the role of the critical care unit environment on fear of death and coping mechanisms and support. CONCLUSION: Frailty in geriatric critically ill patients heightened death anxiety due to physical decline, existential worries and the overwhelming critical care environment. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: This study can help nurses provide more personalized care to geriatric patients by addressing both their physical frailty and psychological needs related to fear of death. This, in turn, can improve the quality of care and enhance patient satisfaction.