Evaluation of the relationship between death anxiety and clinical features of the disease and functionality in patients with schizophrenia

AIM: This study aimed to examine the relationship between death anxiety in schizophrenia patients and the clinical characteristics of the disease and its functionality. METHOD: The study included 52 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia according to the DSM-5 diagnostic criteria and 52 healthy volunteers. Death anxiety scores were compared between the two groups using the Abdel-Khalek Death Anxiety Scale (ADAS). The functionality of the schizophrenia patients was evaluated with the Functional Remission of General Schizophrenia (FROGS) scale. RESULTS: The mean ADAS total scores were statistically significantly higher in the schizophrenia patient group than in the control group. A low-level negative correlation was determined between the ADAS total points and the FROGS total points, the FROGS subscales of daily life skills and health. CONCLUSION: The results of this study showed higher death anxiety in schizophrenia patients than in the healthy control group. Patients with a higher level of functionality were determined to have a lower level of death anxiety. These results support our idea that interventions and therapeutic approaches to increase functionality in patients with schizophrenia can reduce their death anxiety. In order to reach more evident conclusions on this subject, prospective studies that deal with the causal relationship between death anxiety and functionality are needed.