Meaning in life and its relationship with family cohesion: a survey of palliative care patients in China

Abstract Purpose: Meaning in life (MIL) and family cohesion are important concerns for the palliative care population; however, evidence of the relationship between MIL and family cohesion is scarce. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the relationship between meaning in life and family cohesion, and explore the factors that influence MIL among the palliative care population.Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 205 patients with advanced cancer were recruited from two palliative care units in China. Data were collected using the Meaning in Life Scale (MiLS), the family cohesion subscale of the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Scale, second edition, Chinese version, and the Karnofsky Performance Status Scale (KPS). Multivariate linear regression models were used to examine the relationship between family cohesion and perceived MIL, and to identify the potential predictors of participants’ MiLS score.Results: The mean MiLS score was 100.90 (9.17). The results showed that family cohesion (r = 0.313, p < 0.01) and KPS scores (r = 0.311, p < 0.01) were positively correlated with MiLS scores. Multivariate linear regression revealed that MIL was significantly predicted by family cohesion, KPS score, sex, religiosity, whether participants lived alone, and their medical insurance payment method (F = 13.870, p < 0.01, R2 = 27.5%).Conclusions: Our findings indicate a positive relationship between family cohesion and MIL, suggesting that clinicians should consider increasing patients’ family cohesion as an approach to enhance perceived MIL.