Abstract
BackgroundAlthough recent studies have increasingly reported physical and psychological problems associated with cancer and its treatment, social problems of cancer patients and their families have not been sufficiently elucidated. The present study aimed to identify cancer-associated social problems from the perspectives of both patients and their spouses and to compare and analyze differences in their problems.MethodsThis was a cross-sectional internet-based study. Subjects were 259 patients who developed cancer within the previous five years and 259 patients’ spouses; the data were derived from two surveys in 2010 (patients) and 2016 (spouses) whose participants were not part of the same dyad but matched by propensity scores, estimated for age, sex, and the presence or absence of recurrence. We investigated the social difficulties of cancer patients and patients’ spouses. Regarding social difficulties experienced by cancer patients and spouses, the 60 patient survey items were categorized into 14 labels by the Jiro Kawakita (KJ) method, which is a qualitative synthesis method developed by Kawakita to classify categorical data.ResultsAlthough patients had higher scores on most subcategories, young spouses aged 39 or younger and female spouses had difficulty scores as high as the corresponding patients on many subcategories.ConclusionHealth care providers should show sufficient concern for both patients and their spouses, particularly young and female spouses.
Highlights
Recent studies have increasingly reported physical and psychological problems associated with cancer and its treatment, social problems of cancer patients and their families have not been sufficiently elucidated
Because terminal home care is expected to be further promoted in the future, it is assumed that the main site of cancer patient care will increasingly be shifted from
Assessment indicators The degree of social difficulties experienced by cancer patients and spouses The list of social difficulties experienced by cancer patients and spouses was prepared based on a list of patients’ problems developed from the results of a qualitative survey asking, “What bothers you as a cancer patient?” in our previous study [14]
Summary
Recent studies have increasingly reported physical and psychological problems associated with cancer and its treatment, social problems of cancer patients and their families have not been sufficiently elucidated. The present study aimed to identify cancer-associated social problems from the perspectives of both patients and their spouses and to compare and analyze differences in their problems. Recent studies have increasingly reported on physical problems associated with cancer and its treatment and psychological problems, such as anxiety and depression. As several studies have indicated that social problems experienced by cancer patients have an important impact on their mental health and quality of life [6–10], the need for support for their social problems, as well as the mental care of patients, has been increasingly recognized. The reality of the social problems experienced by the families who support cancer patients has not yet been sufficiently understood. Spouse caregivers provide the most extensive and comprehensive care, maintain the caregiver role longer, tolerate greater levels of disability than other
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