Predictors of family anxiety in the weeks before bereavement

There has been little research to date on the factors which predict high anxiety in family members or carers before bereavement. Our study used data on 302 patients for whom the familyʹs anxiety had been recorded by cancer palliative care teams in the last weeks of the patientʹs life. Variables known at the time of the patientʹs referral to the teams were entered into a discriminant analysis. A predictive function with a sensitivity of 0.75 and a specificity of 0.51 identified those families whose anxiety was rated as severe (3–4 on a scale of 0–4) during the month before the patientʹs death. Important predictors were: whether the family member was a spouse, a diagnosis of breast cancer, young age, the time from diagnosis and low patient mobility. There was a small significant correlation between a longer time in palliative care and lower family anxiety. The predictive model could be used by oncologists to identify cases where greater psychological support will be needed.