Association Between Family Support, Coping Strategies and Anxiety in Cancer Patients Undergoing Chemotherapy at General Hospital in Medan, North Sumatera, Indonesia.

Ratna Dewi,Dina Keumala Sari,Wardiah Daulay

doi:10.31557/apjcp.2019.20.10.3015

Ratna Dewi, Dina Keumala Sari + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.31557/apjcp.2019.20.10.3015

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Abstract

Objective:This study aims to test the association between family support and coping strategies and anxiety at Dr. Pirngadi General Hospital Medan. Methods:The study was a correlational descriptive study with a cross-sectional approach. The samples were 102 cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, who were selected through purposive sampling technique. Data was collected using a family support questionnaire instrument developed based on the concept of the House and Friedman theory, a coping strategy questionnaire modified from the Revised Ways of Coping questionnaire by Folkman and Lazarus, and an anxiety questionnaire modified from the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A). Bivariate analysis was conducted using the Product Moment correlation coefficient to test the association between family support, coping strategies, and anxiety. Multivariate analysis was conducted using the logistic regression test to investigate dominant variables associated with coping strategies and anxiety. Results:The results of the bivariate analysis showed a significant positive association (p=0.001) and strong correlation (r=0.612) between family support and Problem Focused Coping (PFC) strategy, while there was a significant negative association (p=0.001) and moderate correlation (r=-0.462) with the Emotion Focused Coping (EFC) strategy. A significant negative association (p=0.001) and strong correlation (r=-0.646) was found between family support and anxiety. The multivariate analysis showed a dominant association (p = 0.001) between family support with PFC strategy (OR = 12.2), EFC (OR = 0.142), and anxiety (OR = 0.039). Conclusion:Based on the results, it can be concluded that there was an association between good family support and effective coping strategies and lower anxiety levels in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. These results can be an input for health services to increase family support for cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy in combination with effective coping strategies to decrease anxiety levels.

Highlights

Over half of cancer patients are treated with chemotherapy, which a cancer treatment that uses chemical agents or medications for both localized and metastatic cancer
This study aims to test the association between family support and coping strategies and anxiety at Dr Pirngadi General Hospital Medan
The bivariate analysis resulted in a value of p = 0.001 indicating a significant association between family support and Problem-Focused Coping (PFC) strategy at Dr Pirngadi General Hospital Medan, and the correlational value of r = 0.612 indicating a strong positive correlation, which means that subjects receiving better family support were more likely to use the Problem-Focused Coping (PFC) strategy

Summary

Introduction

Over half of cancer patients are treated with chemotherapy, which a cancer treatment that uses chemical agents or medications for both localized and metastatic cancer. Chemotherapy is usually combined with surgery or radiotherapy. Preoperative chemotherapy is performed to reduce the size of the tumor that will be removed, while postoperative chemotherapy is performed to eliminate the remainder cancer cells (Prawirohardjo, 2010). Chemotherapy leads to various physiological and psychological side effects. The psychological side effects that may occur are including stress, anxiety, and depression. This stress leads to coping strategies performed by individuals to prevent further psychological disorders (Karabulutlu et al, 2010)

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