Impact of illness acceptance on the quality of life in cancer patients after surgical treatment

Abstract

Introduction/Objective. In Poland, cancers are the second most common cause of death. One in four Poles will have cancer in their life, and one in five will die from it. The purpose of the study was to assess the acceptance of illness and its impact on the quality of life in surgically treated cancer patients. Methods. The study included 123 cancer patients who had undergone surgical treatment between April and May of 2017. The most common were colon (33.3%) and breast cancer (31.7%). Sixty-five percent of the patients were only treated surgically. The Acceptance of Illness Scale, the WHOQOL-BREF quality of life questionnaire, and an original survey were used. Results. Sixty-two patients (50.4%) presented high illness acceptance levels. More than half of the patients rated their quality of life as good (41.5%) or very good (13%). A positive correlation was found between the acceptance of illness and the quality of life scores in the physical health (R = 0.351, p < 0.001), psychological (R = 0.422, p < 0.001), social relationships (R = 0.525, p < 0.001), and environment (R = 0.533, p < 0.001) domains. In the physical and psychological domains, the correlation had moderate strength, while correlations with the social relationships and environment domains were strong. Conclusion. Higher illness acceptance levels were associated with higher quality of life. Acceptance of illness was not associated with patient age, type of treatment, or repeated surgery. Patients who lived alone had significantly lower quality of life and significantly lower acceptance of illness. Patients who had undergone their first surgery perceived their quality of life in the environment domain significantly lower.