Adaptation In Cancer Patients Research Articles

Effects of Resilience-Promoting Interventions on Cancer Patients' Positive Adaptation and Quality of Life: A Meta-analysis.

Resilience-promoting interventions (RPIs) are increasingly used for cancer patients. However, there are few comprehensive reports on the efficacy of RPIs in cancer patients. A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) was conducted to systematically evaluate the effects of RPIs on resilience, posttraumatic growth (PTG), and quality of life in cancer patients. Two authors conducted independent literature searches in electronic databases (PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, MEDLINE, EBSCO [ASC], Cochrane library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wan Fang Data, and Chinese Scientific and Technological Journal Database) from the first available date to February 2021. Then, eligible studies were selected, data for meta-analysis were extracted, and the risk of bias was evaluated. Sixteen independent randomized controlled trials with 1620 participants were included. Meta-analysis showed that RPIs significantly improved the level of resilience and PTG among cancer patients. Further analysis indicated that both group and individual interventions could enhance resilience and PTG levels. However, RPIs did not significantly enhance the quality of life in cancer patients. Clinical evidence from current randomized controlled trials shows that RPIs can improve the positive adaptation in cancer patients through either group intervention or individual intervention methods. In the future, the impact of RPIs on the quality of life needs further validation. Interventions to enhance the positive adaptation for patients with cancer are needed. Considering that both group and individual forms of RPIs can improve resilience and PTG, future clinical intervention methods can be considered in combination with the specific situation of research implementation.

Correlation between Intra Family Relationships with The Level of Coping and Adaptation in Cancer Patients

Correlation between Intra Family Relationships with The Level of Coping and Adaptation in Cancer Patients

Characterizing death acceptance among patients with cancer.

Death acceptance may indicate positive adaptation in cancer patients. Little is known about what characterizes patients with different levels of death acceptance or its impact on psychological distress. We aimed to broaden the understanding of death acceptance by exploring associated demographic, medical, and psychological characteristics. At baseline, we studied 307 mixed cancer patients attending the University Cancer Center Hamburg and a specialized lung cancer center (age M=59.6, 69% female, 69% advanced cancer). At 1-year follow-up, 153 patients participated. We assessed death acceptance using the validated Life Attitude Profile-Revised. Patients further completed the Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale, the Demoralization Scale, the Patient Health Questionnaire, and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Questionnaire. Statistical analyses included multinomial and hierarchical regression analyses. At baseline, mean death acceptance was 4.33 (standard deviation [SD]=1.3, range 1-7). There was no change to follow-up (P=0.26). When all variables were entered simultaneously, patients who experienced high death acceptance were more likely to be older (odds ratio [OR]=1.04; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.01-1.07), male (OR=3.59; 95% CI, 1.35-9.56), widowed (OR=3.24; 95% CI, 1.01-10.41), and diagnosed with stage IV (OR=2.44; 95% CI, 1.27-4.71). They were less likely to be diagnosed with lung cancer (OR=0.20; 95% CI, 0.07-0.58), and their death acceptance was lower with every month since diagnosis (OR=0.99; 95% CI, 0.98-0.99). High death acceptance predicted lower demoralization and anxiety at follow-up but not depression. High death acceptance was adaptive. It predicted lower existential distress and anxiety after 1year. Advanced cancer did not preclude death acceptance, supporting the exploration of death-related concerns in psychosocial interventions.

Dispositional Mindfulness, Psychological Distress, and Posttraumatic Growth in Cancer Patients

ABSTRACTCancer has different psychological and physical outcomes. The present study was conducted to examine psychological distress, posttraumatic growth, and dispositional mindfulness in cancer patients. A total of 109 cancer patients entered the research. The Five-Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21), and the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI) were used for data collection. The regression analysis revealed that dispositional mindfulness can be a significant predictor of psychological distress and posttraumatic growth in cancer patients. The results also showed that mindfulness is related significantly to psychological outcomes and adaptation in cancer patients and should be further addressed in cancer treatment.

Discrepancies between attainment and importance of life values and anxiety and depression in gastrointestinal cancer patients and their spouses.

Patients' satisfaction with life, viewed in terms of the discrepancy between the perceived attainment and subjective importance of various life values, is a less often studied phenomenon for understanding the psychological adaptation in cancer patients. The main aim of the present study is to investigate the relation between the degree of attainment and importance of life values on the one hand, and anxiety and depression, on the other. A consecutive series of 85 newly diagnosed patients with gastrointestinal (GI) cancers, 52 potentially cured and 33 with an advanced disease, and 26 spouses to the patients with an advanced disease participated. The patients and spouses of non-cured patients filled out questionnaires twice, close to the diagnosis and after 1 (non-cured patients) or 3 months. Overall, large discrepancies between the perceived attainment and importance of life values were associated with high anxiety and depression. For the patients (both cured and non-cured), the discrepancies decreased for several life values over time, as did anxiety and depression. For the spouses of the non-cured patients, there was no decrease either for life value discrepancies or for anxiety/depression. This suggests that patients, in contrast to their spouses, strive to achieve small discrepancies between the perceived attainment and importance of life values, as part of their adjustment to serious diseases, e.g. cancer.

Coping and psychosocial adaptation: longitudinal effects over time and stages in breast cancer.

This study examined the relationship between coping and psychosocial adaptation in cancer patients over time and across distinct clinical events. In a prospective longitudinal study 74 patients with breast cancer were observed for 3 to 5 years at 3- to 6-month intervals. A total of 684 interviews were conducted at different observation points. Three rating scales were used to assess coping and adjustment: first, the Bernese Coping Modes, an observer rating scale devised to elicit 26 coping modes aggregated in this paper as the five Basic Coping Strategies of support, self-control, denial, diverting, and negative-emotional; second, an observer rating scale to ascertain psychosocial adaptation; and third, a self-rating scale as a measure of either emotional distress or well-being. a) When aggregated in illness stages, coping and distress data on the observed clinical time points showed greater variability than time measures alone (analysis of variance (ANOVA) for repeated measures p < .001). b) A significant relationship between the Basic Coping Strategies and psychosocial adaptation was demonstrated using discriminant and correlational analysis. Furthermore, in stage-dependent Pearson r correlations (p < .05 to .001), a clear-cut relationship was found for hospitalization, chemotherapy, and rehabilitation, but not for convalescence and metastasis. c) A positive relationship was demonstrated between psychosocial adaptation and strategies that can be generally categorized as good forms of coping such as support and self-control, and, to a lesser degree, diverting and denial. Conversely, poor coping exerted a negative effect on almost all illness stages and on most criteria of adjustment. In long-term studies on psychosocial adaptation and coping, stage-related measures should be preferred to time measures alone. The implications of different strategies for the psychological treatment of cancer patients are discussed.

1387 Social support and psychosocial adaptation in cancer patients

The experience of cancer causes emotional reactions such as anxiety and depression, and can alter communication with family and friends. Good social support improves emotional adaptation but remains difficult to evaluate. The purpose of the present study is to examine the relationship between the significance and quality of social support in cancer patients and their emotional status. Randomly selected patients in an outpatient oncology clinic were studied using a questionnaire which included the International Breast Cancer Study Group sociodemographic evaluation, a modified Norbeck social support evaluation, a brief medical report and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Our results demonstrate the importance of systematically evaluating the degree of patients satisfaction with their social support network in view of providing appropriate assistance.