DYING IN PALLIATIVE CARE UNITS AND IN-HOSPITAL - A COMPARISON OF THE QUALITY-OF-LIFE OF TERMINAL CANCER-PATIENTS

A comparison of the quality of life of terminal cancer patients in two palliative care units with that of those in a general hospital is rep orted here. Quality of life was considered as a multidimensional conce pt. It was assessed for the 182 patients by applying content analysis scales to transcripts of their responses to part of a standardized int erview. A personal construct model of dying provided the specific hypo theses about differences in quality of life. Patients in specialized p alliative care units were, as predicted, found to differ from those dy ing in hospital, showing less indirectly expressed anger but more posi tive feelings. They also reported more anxiety about death but less an xiety about isolation and general anxiety, and fewer influential and n onspecified shared relationships. Against prediction, the patients in the two specialized units were also found to differ from each other, t hose in the smaller unit showing more directly expressed anger and hel plessness than those in the larger unit.