Table 3.
Sources of underlying suffering of clients with face-to-face contact with a counsellor working with foundation De Einder (according to the counsellor)^*
| Total A(n = 595) | Severe disease (n = 255) | No (severe) disease (n = 280) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | % | P-value B | ||
| Main source of underlying suffering | X | X | X | <0.001 | |
| Physical suffering | 42 | 55 | 30 | ||
| Psychiatric suffering | 23 | 35 | 8 | ||
| Psychological suffering | 16 | 7 | 26 | ||
| No suffering at presence | 19 | 4 | 36 | ||
| Clarification of suffering C | Y | X | Y | ||
| Physical suffering | |||||
| Problems of old age | 17 | 9 | 27 | <0.001 | |
| Cancer | 7 | 14 | 1 | <0.001 | |
| Dementia | 6 | 11 | 1 | <0.001 | |
| Heart problems | 4 | 4 | 4 | 0.788 | |
| Rheumatism | 3 | 5 | 1 | 0.017 | |
| Lung problems | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0.002 | |
| Other physical problemsD | 19 | 28 | 9 | <0.001 | |
| Psychiatric suffering | |||||
| Depression | 16 | 19 | 11 | 0.007 | |
| Personality disorder | 13 | 17 | 7 | <0.001 | |
| Fear Disorders | 5 | 6 | 4 | 0.140 | |
| Other Psychiatric problemsE | 6 | 7 | 2 | 0.017 | |
| Psychological suffering | |||||
| Existential suffering (including weary of life/completed life) | 19 | 10 | 29 | <0.001 | |
| Youth trauma (including child abuse) | 6 | 6 | 5 | 0.412 | |
| Loneliness | 5 | 3 | 7 | 0.018 | |
| Tiredness | 3 | 4 | 3 | 0.320 | |
| Other psychological problemsF | 5 | 3 | 7 | 0.040 | |
| No suffering at presence | |||||
| Selfdetermination/Be prepared | 9 | 2 | 16 | <0.001 | |
| Avoiding dependency | 5 | 1 | 10 | <0.001 | |
| No diseases or complaints | 5 | 0 | 10 | <0.001 | |
^= Percentages are rounded therefore the total does not always add up to 100% exactly.
*= Missing observations between 1 and 53; missing is equal to or less than 5.0% (X) except for Y < 10.0%.
A= Including 60 clients with unknown severity of/or disease.
B= Pearson Chi-square test asymptotic significance 2-sided; p-value in bold means significant at a level of p=0.001.
C= Categories add up to more than 100% because more than one clarification per client possible.
D= Consisting of (amongst others): visual problems, cerebrovascular accident, osteoporosis/ortrosis, pain, multiple sclerosis, muscular disease.
E= Consisting of (amongst others): post traumatic stress syndrome, autism, eating disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
F= Consisting of (amongst others): mourning, age, trauma, addiction, not wanting to suffer, financial problems.