Association between social support and post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms among Chinese patients with ovarian cancer: A multiple mediation model.

Chunli Liu,Yi Zhang,Hui Wu,Hong Jiang,Yutaka J Matsuoka

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0177055

Chunli Liu, Yi Zhang + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0177055

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Journal: PloS one	Publication Date: May 5, 2017
Citations: 28	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: China Medical University

Abstract

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms can develop after person experiences one or more traumatic events. Little research, however, has been done on PTSD symptoms of patients with ovarian cancer. The present study aimed to estimate the prevalence of PTSD symptoms in patients with ovarian cancer in China; the effects of demographic and clinical variables on PTSD symptoms; multiple mediation roles in the association between social support and PTSD symptoms in patients with ovarian cancer in China. We collected demographic and clinical information of patients with ovarian cancer in the first and second hospitals of China Medical University between January 1, 2014 and December 31, 2015. Qualified patients were asked to complete the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist-Civilian Version (PCL-C), Duke-UNC Functional Social Support Questionnaire, Herth Hope Index (HHI), and Resilience Scale-14 (RS-14). 201 patients provided responses. We performed hierarchical linear regression to assess the correlation between social support and PTSD symptoms and bootstrapping to test the mediating role of hope and resilience as potential mediators. After controlling demographic and clinical characteristics, social support negatively correlated with PTSD symptoms (β = -0.406, P < 0.01). Social support explained 14.7% of the variance in PTSD symptoms. Hope and resilience explained 17.0% of the variance in PTSD symptoms. The proportion of the hope mediating effect was 43.37% for social support and the proportion of the resilience mediating effect was 10.64% for social support. Hope and resilience partly mediated the correlation between social support and PTSD symptoms despite accounting for different proportions of the mediating effect. Future intervention plans should pay more attention to social support as well as hope and resilience to prevent, relieve and treat PTSD symptoms.

Highlights

Ovarian cancer is a gynecological malignancy disease that causes more deaths than other female reproductive cancers
The present results indicate that social support significantly and negatively correlates with Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in patients with ovarian cancer in China (P < 0.01), in accordance with prior studies
This study provides a self-report prevalence of PTSD symptoms among Chinese patients with ovarian cancer

Summary

Introduction

Ovarian cancer is a gynecological malignancy disease that causes more deaths than other female reproductive cancers. Most patients are diagnosed ovarian cancer at a late stage, and the prognosis is poor [1,2,3]. According to epidemiology statistics in UK, ovarian cancer is the sixth most common cancer in women [4], while it is the greatest cause of gynecological cancer death, with a 46% 5-year survival rate. In the US [5], while it is the eighth most common cancer among women, ovarian cancer is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related death among women, and is the deadliest of gynecologic cancers, with a 45.6% 5-year survival rate. In China, ovarian cancer is the second most common cancer in women behind cervical cancer, and the mortality rate is 21.6%, ranking as the deadliest cancer among women [6]

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