The Attitudes, Needs, and Requirements at End of Life in the Republic of Georgia (Comparative Analysis of Groups of Patients With Cancer and Elders)

Abstract

Introduction: In developing a model of palliative care, the attitudes, needs, and requirements of its beneficiaries recognizing the limited remaining life expectancy need to be met. We aimed to map and compare these issues at the end of life in the groups of patients with advanced cancer and elderly individuals. Materials and Methods: The prospective study based on the analysis of semistructured interviews was conducted. Fifty individuals aged older than 85 and 50 incurable patients with advanced cancer were studied. Transcripts of interviews were analyzed qualitatively (the interviews were divided into logically completed themes, and the compliance of each with one of the levels of Abraham Maslow pyramid was determined) and quantitatively (data comparisons of 2 groups were tested in bivariate analysis using Pearson χ2 or Fisher exact test. Two-sided significance tests were used; P value of <.05 was deemed significant). Results: It was assumed that 120 themes were relevant to a certain level of Maslow pyramid. Their comparison showed small differences in the narratives of the patients with advanced cancer and elderly individuals aged 85 and older—concerning the past, present, and future terms of lives. In studied themes explicitly prevail the stories that are consistent with satisfaction of the upper levels of the hierarchy of needs and demands of Maslow: social relation (belonging), love, esteem, and transcendence. Conclusion: The attitudes, needs, and requirements at the end of life of the people are basically similar, regardless of what determined the sense of limitation of the remaining life—incurable disease or advanced age.