Global Journal of Health Science; Vol. 9, No. 10; 2017 ISSN 1916-9736 E-ISSN 1916-9744 Published by Canadian Center of Science and Education 201 Attitudes of the General Population, Cancer Patients, Their Family Caregivers, and Physicians toward Dying and Death: A Nationwide Survey Young Ho Yun 1,2,3 , Kyoung-Nam Kim 4 , Jin-Ah Sim 1 , Jihye Lee 3 , Jiyeon Choo 1 , Ah Reum An 4 , Shin Hye Yoo 5 , Bhumsuk Keam 5 , Tae You Kim MD, PhD 5 , Yoon Jung Chang 6 , Yu Jung Kim 7,8 , Na-Ri Lee 9 , Jung Hun Kang 10 , Jung Hye Kwon 11 , Jung Lim Lee 12 , Soon Nam Lee 13 , Si-Young Kim 14 , Eun Joo Kang 15 , Young Rok Do 16 , Hwan-Jung Yun 17 & Kyung Hae Jung 18 1 Department of Biomedical Science, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea 2 Department of Family Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea 3 Department of Biomedical Informatics, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea 4 Public Health Medical Service, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Korea 5 Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Korea 6 Hospice & Palliative Care Branch, National Cancer Control Institute, National Cancer Center, Goyang, Korea 7 Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seongnam, Korea 8 Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, Chonnam National University School of Medicine, Hwasun, Korea 9 Division of Hematology/Oncology, Chonbuk National University Medical School, Jeonju, Korea 10 Department of Internal Medicine, Postgraduate Medical School, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju, Korea 11 Department of Internal Medicine, Kangdong Sacred Heart Hospital, Hallym University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea 12 Department of Hemato-oncology, Daegu Fatima Hospital, Daegu, Korea 13 Department of Internal Medicine, Ewha Womans University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea 14 Department of Medical Oncology and Hematology, Kyung Hee University Hospital, Seoul, Korea 15 Department of Internal Medicine, Korea University Guro Hospital, Seoul, Korea 16 Department of Internal Medicine, Dongsan Medical Center, Keimyung University School of Medicine, Daegu, Korea 17 Department of Internal Medicine, Chungnam National University Hospital, Daejeon, Korea 18 Department of Internal Medicine, Asan Medical Center, Ulsan University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea Correspondence: Young Ho Yun, M.D., Ph.D., Department of Biomedical Science, Seoul National University College of Medicine, 103 Daehak-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul 110-799, Korea. Tel: 82-2-740-8437; Fax: 82-2-742-5947. E-mail: lawyun@snu.ac.kr Received: August 9, 2017 Accepted: September 5, 2017 Online Published: September 20, 2017 doi:10.5539/gjhs.v9n10p201 URL: https://doi.org/10.5539/gjhs.v9n10p201 Abstract Little is known about people’s attitudes toward death. We aimed to examine attitudes toward death and to investigate their associations with health status in various participant groups. We administered nationwide questionnaires to a total of 4,107 individuals including general Korean population, cancer patients, family caregivers, and physicians. Association of attitudes toward five aspects of dying and death—the ending of life, fearing death because it is painful, anticipating an afterlife, preparing to practice charity and being remembered—and physical, mental, social, and spiritual health status were also analyzed. Attitudes differed. Most (63.4%-76.2%) accepted that death is the ending of life, 45.6%-58.8% feared a painful death, 47.6%-55.0%