Discussing their anxieties, needs and symptoms with members of a support group can help lessen depression in patients facing death, a study said.

Terminally ill patients who were assigned to support groups that met monthly and discussed more difficult and challenging issues were able to lessen their death anxiety, researchers said.

The groups addressed topics such as recognising and asserting needs, feelings and emotions, symptom control, living well while sick, intimate relationships, spiritual needs, end-of-life planning and decision making, hope and gratitude, and legacy, according to the study published in the Journal of Palliative Medicine.

"We were able to improve depression symptoms and lessen death anxiety, which led to better spiritual well-being in participants," said Douglas Miller of Indiana University School of Medicine who conducted the study.

The study was conducted on individuals with serious medical conditions who were expected to live more than six months but less than two years.

They were divided into three groups. The first was patients with cancer or life-threatening heart, lung or diabetic diseases. The second was geriatric frailty accompanied by serious illness. The third those having HIV/AIDS related conditions, the report said.