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The schedule of attitudes toward hastened death
Author(s) -
Rosenfeld Barry,
Breitbart William,
Galietta Michele,
Kaim Monique,
FunestiEsch Julie,
Pessin Hayley,
Nelson Christian J.,
Brescia Robert
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.052
H-Index - 304
eISSN - 1097-0142
pISSN - 0008-543X
DOI - 10.1002/1097-0142(20000615)88:12<2868::aid-cncr30>3.0.co;2-k
Subject(s) - medicine , psychosocial , palliative care , quality of life (healthcare) , distress , concurrent validity , life expectancy , clinical psychology , convergent validity , population , depression (economics) , psychometrics , psychiatry , internal consistency , nursing , environmental health , economics , macroeconomics
BACKGROUND The authors examined the reliability and validity of the Schedule of Attitudes toward Hastened Death (SAHD), a self‐report measure of desire for death previously validated in a population of individuals with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), among terminally ill patients with cancer. METHODS The authors interviewed 92 terminally ill cancer patients, all with a life expectancy of < 6 months, after admission to a palliative care hospital. Patients were administered the SAHD, a clinician‐rated measure of desire for death (the Desire for Death Rating Scale [DDRS]), and several measures of physical and psychosocial well‐being. RESULTS The average number of SAHD items endorsed was 4.76 (standard deviation, 4.3); 15 patients (16.3%) endorsed ≥ 10 items, indicating a high desire for death. Internal consistency was strong (coefficient α = 0.88, median item‐total correlation = 0.49), as were indices of convergent validity. Total SAHD scores were correlated significantly (correlation coefficient [r] = 0.67) with the DDRS, and somewhat less so with measures of depression (r = 0.49) and hopelessness (r = 0.55). Lower, but substantial, correlations were observed between the SAHD and measures of spiritual well‐being (r = −0.42), quality of life (r = −0.36), physical symptoms (r = 0.38), and symptom distress (r = 0.38). No significant correlation was observed between SAHD scores and social support (r = −0.06) or pain intensity (r = 0.16); however, pain‐related functional interference and overall physical functioning were correlated significantly with SAHD scores (r = 0.31 and r = −0.23, respectively). CONCLUSIONS The SAHD appears to be a reliable and valid measure of desire for death among terminally ill cancer patients. Coupled with previous research in patients with AIDS, these results support the utility of the SAHD for research addressing interest in hastened death in patients with a life‐threatening medical illness. Cancer 2000;88:2868–75. © 2000 American Cancer Society.