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Healthcare and Quality of Life of Patients with Cancer

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A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Health Care Sciences & Services".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2023) | Viewed by 8608

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Marialaura Di Tella

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Guest Editor

Department of Psychology, University of Turin, 10124 Turin, Italy
Interests: social cognition; emotional functioning; pain; quality of life; post-traumatic outcomes

Dr. Annunziata Romeo

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Guest Editor

Department of Psychology, University of Turin, 10124 Turin, Italy
Interests: post-traumatic growth; psychological distress; cancer; attachment style; trauma

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Diagnosis of cancer is considered a type of trauma in the DSM-5 (American Psychiatric Association, 2013) and leads to many challenges. Cancer-related challenges could trigger a negative or positive reaction, with different intensities depending on individual characteristics. Various factors, such as coping strategies, perceived social support, and socioemotional abilities (e.g., the capacity to recognize and manage emotions), could contribute to and mediate the relationship between the impact of trauma and the occurrence of positive or negative psychological outcomes (e.g., post-traumatic growth for positive outcomes, or post-traumatic stress and anxiety/depressive symptoms for negative outcomes).

The available evidence seems to show that maladaptive coping strategies, low levels of perceived social support, and reduced socioemotional skills can bring the individuals to experience greater distress, whereas adaptive coping strategies, adequate perceived social support, and preserved socioemotional abilities can result in positive psychological outcomes in patients with cancer.

However, not all evidence is consistent and future research is needed to shed light on the psychological mechanisms that may contribute to psychological wellbeing and quality of life of patients with cancer.

In this Special Issue, papers investigating the abovementioned factors in patients with cancer are invited. Original research articles, reviews, method papers, and case reports are welcome.

Dr. Marialaura Di Tella
Dr. Annunziata Romeo
Guest Editors

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Keywords

quality of life
coping strategies
perceived social support
socioemotional skills
cancer
post-traumatic growth
post-traumatic stress
psychological distress
anxiety/depressive symptoms

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

10 pages, 332 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Quality of Life and Side Effects Management in Cancer Treatment—A Cross Sectional Study

by Inés Llamas-Ramos, Jorge Juan Alvarado-Omenat, María Rodrigo-Reguilón and Rocío Llamas-Ramos

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(3), 1708; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph20031708 - 17 Jan 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1313

Abstract

Cancer disease is a world problem which is increasing in its prevalence. Oncology patients have a multitude of symptoms derived from the treatments and from the disease itself that affect their quality of life to a greater or lesser extent. The aim of this study has been to discover the physical and psychological symptoms related to chemotherapy treatment in Spanish cancer patients in order to improve their quality of life. Symptoms from the previous week were taken into account and the Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale was used to measure the frequency, severity and associated distress of 32 symptoms. A total of 246 chemotherapy patients at the University Day Hospital in Salamanca completed the scale once while receiving chemotherapy treatment. A 95% confidence interval was considered. The most prevalent symptoms were a lack of energy (76.4%), anxiety (66.7%) and a dry mouth (60.6%). Lung cancer was the most prevalent cancer in men (26%) and breast cancer was the most prevalent cancer in women (72%). There is no consensus on which is the most prevalent symptom in this population and more studies will need to be carried out to determine the best treatment protocols. Symptom’s prevalence knowledge could improve the patients’ care to prevent or avoid complications and to improve the cancer patients’ quality of life. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Healthcare and Quality of Life of Patients with Cancer)

10 pages, 627 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Social Support Mediates the Relationship between Body Image Distress and Depressive Symptoms in Prostate Cancer Patients

by Cristiano Scandurra, Benedetta Muzii, Roberto La Rocca, Francesco Di Bello, Mario Bottone, Gianluigi Califano, Nicola Longo, Nelson Mauro Maldonato and Francesco Mangiapia

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(8), 4825; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph19084825 - 15 Apr 2022

Cited by 18 | Viewed by 2864

Abstract

Treatments for prostate cancer (PCa), the second most common cancer in men, may affect the body image (BI) of patients, increasing the risk of negative mental health outcomes. However, an enabling social support network may be a protective factor against the effects of BI distress on health. Therefore, the present study examined the mediating role of social support in the relationship between BI distress and depressive symptoms. Data were retrospectively collected from 197 PCa patients aged from 48 to 79 years (M = 67.19; SD = 6.83). The statistical package for the social sciences with PROCESS Macro was used to assess the direct and mediating effects with bias-corrected bootstrapping (10,000 samples). Results showed that BI distress was positively associated with depressive symptoms and that social support partially mediated this relationship. Moreover, among the different sources of social support, only friend support significantly mediated the association between BI distress and depressive symptoms. This study sheds light on the crucial role of social support as a dimension that can promote health in PCa patients. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Healthcare and Quality of Life of Patients with Cancer)

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10 pages, 844 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Androgen Deprivation Therapy for Prostate Cancer Did Not Increase the Risk of Retinal Vascular Occlusion: A Population-Based Cohort Study

by Hsin-Le Lin, Chia-Yi Lee, Jing-Yang Huang, Po-Chen Tseng and Shun-Fa Yang

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(4), 2268; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph19042268 - 17 Feb 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1547

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) on retinal vascular occlusion (RVO) development in patients with prostate cancer, using data from Taiwan’s National Health Insurance Research Database. A total of 1791, 1791, and 3582 patients were enrolled in the prostate cancer with ADT group, prostate cancer without ADT group, and the control group, respectively. The primary outcome was RVO occurrence, according to diagnostic codes. Cox proportional hazard regression was used to determine the adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of ADT and other covariates for RVO incidence. After a follow-up interval of up to 18 years, the patients with prostate cancer who received ADT showed significantly lower RVO incidence than the control group (aHR: 0.191, 95% CI: 0.059–0.621, p = 0.0059), after adjusting for multiple confounders. Hypertension was related to higher RVO incidence (aHR: 2.130, 95% CI: 1.127–4.027, p = 0.0199). Our overall results showed that using ADT for prostate cancer did not lead to a greater risk of RVO development. In fact, the patients with prostate cancer who received ADT had lower RVO incidence than those who did not receive ADT. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Healthcare and Quality of Life of Patients with Cancer)

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11 pages, 680 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Exploring Factors Associated with Patients Who Prefer Clinician-Sampling to HPV Self-Sampling: A Study Conducted in a Low-Resource Setting

by Jessica Sormani, Bruno Kenfack, Ania Wisniak, Alida Moukam Datchoua, Sophie Lemoupa Makajio, Nicole C. Schmidt, Pierre Vassilakos and Patrick Petignat

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(1), 54; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph19010054 - 22 Dec 2021

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1814

Abstract

Human papillomavirus (HPV) self-sampling (Self-HPV) is a promising strategy to improve cervical cancer screening coverage in low-income countries. However, issues associated with women who prefer conventional HPV clinical-sampling over HPV self-sampling may affect screening participation. To address this issue, our study assessed factors associated with women’s preferences related to Self-HPV. This study was embedded in a large clinical trial recruiting women aged 30–49 years in a primary HPV-based study termed “3T-Approach” (for Test-Triage-Treatment), launched in 2018 at Dschang District Hospital, West Cameroon. Participants were invited to perform a Self-HPV. After the sampling and before receiving the results, participants completed a questionnaire about cervical cancer screening and their preferences and perceptions around Self-HPV. The median age of the 2201 participants was 40.6 (IQR 35–45) years. Most (1693 (76.9%)) preferred HPV self-sampling or had no preference for either method, and 508 (23.1%) preferred clinician-sampling. Factors associated with an increased likelihood of reporting a clinician-sampling preference were tertiary educational level (29.4% CI: 25.6–33.6 vs. 14.4% CI: 12.8–16.1) and being an employee with higher grade professional or managerial occupations (5.5% CI: 3.8–7.9 vs. 2.7% CI: 2.0–3.5). The main reported reason for women preferring clinician-sampling was a lack of “self-expertise”. Most women (>99%) would agree to repeat HPV self-sampling and would recommend it to their relatives. HPV self-sampling in the cultural context of central Africa was well accepted by participants, but some participants would prefer to undergo clinician sampling. Health systems should support well-educated women to increase self-confidence in using HPV self-sampling. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Healthcare and Quality of Life of Patients with Cancer)

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