80% Have Imagined Death or End-of-Life Scenarios
95% of Those Aged 65 and Older Willing to Discontinue Life-Sustaining Treatment
The core elements of a "good death" as perceived by South Korean adults are minimizing pain and reducing the financial burden on their families, according to a recent survey. While most adults have thought about their own death, the findings indicate that few actually discuss this topic with their families.
According to the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs on January 19, researcher Oh Jongmin from the Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine at Ewha Womans University College of Medicine and others stated these findings in their recently published study, "Modeling Attitudes Toward Well-Dying," in the institute's academic journal "Health and Social Research."
The research team analyzed an online (mobile) survey conducted from April 23 to May 7, 2024, targeting 1,021 people aged 19 and older, to assess perceptions of death and the need for related services.
When asked, "Have you ever imagined your own death, end-of-life situations, or treatment plans for that time?" 78.6% of all respondents said they thought about it either occasionally (64.3%) or frequently (14.2%).
The proportion of women (85.2%) who reported thinking about death was higher than that of men (71.7%), and married individuals (79.7%) were more likely than unmarried individuals (74.4%) to have such thoughts.
However, only 45.7% of respondents said they had ever discussed death or end-of-life situations with family members such as parents, children, spouses, or siblings, indicating that less than half have had such conversations.
As for the elements considered necessary for a "good death," "not feeling physical pain as much as possible" was cited as important (very important or somewhat important) by 97.0% of respondents, making it the top priority. This was followed by "ensuring that family members do not feel a significant financial burden during the caregiving process" (96.2%) and "making sure that family members do not have to care for me for a long period of time" (95.3%).
However, when looking only at those who rated these items as "very important," concerns about the family's financial burden (65.3%) and caregiving (65.0%) were most prominent. The item rated as least important was "having close family and friends present at the time of death" (very important 29.8%, somewhat important 53.0%).
By age group, 94.7% of those aged 65 and older said they were willing to discontinue life-sustaining treatment, compared to 89.0% among those under 65, indicating that willingness to forgo life-sustaining treatment increases with age.
Among respondents unwilling to discontinue life-sustaining treatment, the most common reason (multiple responses allowed) was "because I think no action will be taken even if I am suffering from pain" (53.0%), followed by "because of fear of death" (49.4%).
For those willing to discontinue life-sustaining treatment, the most frequent reasons (multiple responses allowed) were "because life without the possibility of recovery seems meaningless" (68.3%) and "because I do not want to be a burden to my family" (56.9%).
The research team stated, "Concerns about physical pain that may be experienced at the end of life, and the desire to minimize the economic and psychological burden on family members, are strongly associated with the concept of a 'good death.' It is necessary to quantitatively analyze and promote the costs and benefits of hospice care, and to actively provide information to the public on whether pain can be managed during the process of discontinuing life-sustaining treatment."
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