PURPOSE The aim of this study was to examine the associations between depression, anxiety, hostility and fighting spirit among patients with stomach, colorectal or breast cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 223 patients, diagnosed as with stomach, colorectal or breast cancer, undergoing chemotherapy or follow up care, were the subjects of the study. The study design was cross-sectional at the time of the survey. The degrees of depression, anxiety and hostility of the patients were assessed by the SCL-90-R scores, and the fighting spirit was measured by the Mental Adjustment to Cancer (MAC) scale score. RESULTS: The scores of anxiety and hostility of the patients at younger age were higher than those at older age (p<0.01). The patients with metastasis were more depressed than those without it (p<0.01). There was a negative association between depression and fighting spirit (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: The study showed the more depressed cancer patients had lower fighting spirit score, which was known to be one of the most active psychosocial contributors in adjusting to cancer and survival.
Citations
Citations to this article as recorded by
Associations of diagnostic awareness with psychosocial symptoms and survival time in patients with advanced lung cancer Hulya Abali, Seda Tural Onur, Yusuf Baser, Dilara Demir, Asli Bicen The International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine.2024;[Epub] CrossRef
Association of Depression and Survival in Patients with Cancer over 10 Years Joohyung Kim, Suk Jeong Lee, Jae-Kyung Roh, Sang Jun Shin Asian Oncology Nursing.2015; 15(1): 37. CrossRef