This study aimed to determine the extent to which caregivers of patients with chronic illnesses experience death anxiety, and which variables from caregivers and patients might potentially be related to their death anxiety. It also aimed to compare the levels of death anxiety between patients and caregivers. Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, Psychology Database, Cochrane, and Google Scholar were searched for original studies available until December 2022 that quantitatively addressed death anxiety in family and informal caregivers of individuals with chronic illnesses. The methodological quality of the included studies was assessed, and a meta-analysis was conducted using Hedges' g as the effect size index and the DerSimonian-Laird method to analyze differences between patients and caregivers in death anxiety. The results of the 11 included studies showed moderate levels of death anxiety in caregivers, and the meta-analysis (k = 7; 614 patients and 586 caregivers) revealed non-significant differences between the death anxiety experienced by patients and caregivers (pooled Hedges' g = -0.03, 95% CI = -0.29 to 0.25, p = 0.802). Some sociodemographic and psychological factors (e.g., gender, depression, and anxiety) might be related to the death anxiety experienced, but additional research is necessary to validate these findings.
Keywords: chronic disabilities; chronic illnesses; family caregivers; informal caregivers; lethal chronic diseases; long-term care; meta-analysis; systematic review.