Death education needs and their influencing factors among Chinese medical and nursing students

This study aimed to explore the death education needs of Chinese medical and nursing students and the factors influencing these needs. A cross-sectional, quantitative approach was employed, collecting data from 405 medical and nursing students via an online survey, including both open-ended questions and a rating scale for 15 death education topics to measure students' needs. Students' confusions about death were categorized into death itself, issues caused by death, and death in medicine. Their support needs were identified in areas of law, emotion, theory, and finance. The multiple linear regression shows that being female, having a motivation to study medicine, high in interest, skill mastery, improving the medical landscape of one's hometown, and parental wishes, as well as holding death attitudes high in fear of death, neutral acceptance, and approach acceptance, were associated with higher need intensity for death-education topics. These findings highlight the necessity of tailored, context-specific death education programs.