The Effect of Intern and Resident's Perspective of Death on the Attitude to Patient Care

Moon, Sung Hyuk; Park, Sang Hag; Kim, Hack Ryul; Kim, Sang Hoon

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
This study aimed to investigate the effect of intern and resident's perspective of death on the attitude to Patients care.
METHODS
Participants were recruited from interns and residents working in Chosun University Hospital. The questionnaires on perspective of death and attitudes to patient care include i) the perspectives of death and degree of fear of death ii) the attitude of telling truth to dying patients iii) the attitude to the disease frequently associates with the thought of "living with it is worse than dying", and iv) the avoidant or acceptable attitude when they are treating patients with low chance of recovery thus facing death.
RESULTS
Eighty-eight interns and residents participated in this survey. The most frequent reply on the perspective of death was "death is a part, and a process of life" (48.9%). This group also choose more those types of diseases in which they think "living is worse than dying if oneself get it" (p=0.014). This group also showed more avoidant inclination in treating patients with low chance of recovery and facing death compared with other groups (p=0.068). Paradoxically those people who answered that they have no fear to death showed significantly more avoidant behavior against the care of dying patients (p=0.050).
CONCLUSION
This study showed that interns' and resident's perspectives of death affect their pattern of patients care, particularly with avoidant patterns against patients. This study suggests the importance of the medical education on thanatology that including the ethical and moral aspects of death.