Cem Soylu1, Taner Babacan2, Ali R Sever3, Kadri Altundag2. 1. Department of Psychology, Beytepe Campus, Hacettepe University, 06800, Ankara, Turkey. csoylu@hacettepe.edu.tr. 2. Department of Medical Oncology, Hacettepe University Cancer Institute, Ankara, Turkey. 3. Department of Radiology, Hacettepe University School of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey.
Abstract
PURPOSE: The aims of this study were to explore advanced breast cancer patients' knowledge of treatment intent and expectation of illness course and to evaluate their relationship with optimism, hope, and quality of life (QoL). METHODS: Patients with advanced breast cancer (n = 55) who were treated in the ambulatory clinic of the University of Hacettepe were included in the study. They completed Life Orientation Scale, The Hope Scale, and the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life questionnaires. The data regarding the knowledge of illness progression and the perceptions of therapy intent were assessed using self-administered open-ended questionnaires that were answered by the patients. RESULTS: The data revealed that 58.2 % of the patients had an inaccurate perception of treatment intent, believing the aim of treatment was cure, whereas only 38.2 % of the patients had a realistic expectation that their disease may remain stable or may progress over a year. In addition, the awareness of disease progression and perception of goals of treatment was significantly related to hope and optimism scores but not to QoL. CONCLUSIONS: A large proportion of patients diagnosed with advanced breast cancer believed that their treatment was "curative", and they would improve within a year. Findings of our study suggest that patients with inaccurate perception of treatment intent and unrealistic expectation of prognosis have higher hope and optimism scores than those who do not, but there were no significant differences in terms of global health status.
PURPOSE: The aims of this study were to explore advanced breast cancerpatients' knowledge of treatment intent and expectation of illness course and to evaluate their relationship with optimism, hope, and quality of life (QoL). METHODS:Patients with advanced breast cancer (n = 55) who were treated in the ambulatory clinic of the University of Hacettepe were included in the study. They completed Life Orientation Scale, The Hope Scale, and the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life questionnaires. The data regarding the knowledge of illness progression and the perceptions of therapy intent were assessed using self-administered open-ended questionnaires that were answered by the patients. RESULTS: The data revealed that 58.2 % of the patients had an inaccurate perception of treatment intent, believing the aim of treatment was cure, whereas only 38.2 % of the patients had a realistic expectation that their disease may remain stable or may progress over a year. In addition, the awareness of disease progression and perception of goals of treatment was significantly related to hope and optimism scores but not to QoL. CONCLUSIONS: A large proportion of patients diagnosed with advanced breast cancer believed that their treatment was "curative", and they would improve within a year. Findings of our study suggest that patients with inaccurate perception of treatment intent and unrealistic expectation of prognosis have higher hope and optimism scores than those who do not, but there were no significant differences in terms of global health status.
Entities:
Keywords:
Advanced breast cancer; Expectation of progression; Optimism; Perception of treatment intent
Authors: C R Snyder; C Harris; J R Anderson; S A Holleran; L M Irving; S T Sigmon; L Yoshinobu; J Gibb; C Langelle; P Harney Journal: J Pers Soc Psychol Date: 1991-04
Authors: Allison J Applebaum; Emma M Stein; Jennifer Lord-Bessen; Hayley Pessin; Barry Rosenfeld; William Breitbart Journal: Psychooncology Date: 2013-10-07 Impact factor: 3.894
Authors: Jane C Weeks; Paul J Catalano; Angel Cronin; Matthew D Finkelman; Jennifer W Mack; Nancy L Keating; Deborah Schrag Journal: N Engl J Med Date: 2012-10-25 Impact factor: 91.245
Authors: Jessica Andruccioli; Alessandra Montesi; William Raffaeli; Maria C Monterubbianesi; Paola Turci; Cristina Pittureri; Donatella Sarti; Alberto P Vignali; Andrea P Rossi Journal: J Palliat Med Date: 2007-06 Impact factor: 2.947
Authors: Jeremy DeMartini; Joshua J Fenton; Ronald Epstein; Paul Duberstein; Camille Cipri; Daniel Tancredi; Guibo Xing; Paul Kaesberg; Richard L Kravitz Journal: J Pain Symptom Manage Date: 2018-09-25 Impact factor: 3.612
Authors: Bo Hu; Xiaomeng Yin; Chunyan Du; Hui Zhu; Zhanjun Gao; Xiuli Zhu; Jizhe Wang Journal: Support Care Cancer Date: 2021-08-28 Impact factor: 3.359
Authors: Login S George; Holly G Prigerson; Andrew S Epstein; Kristy L Richards; Megan J Shen; Heather M Derry; Valerie F Reyna; Manish A Shah; Paul K Maciejewski Journal: J Palliat Med Date: 2019-10-08 Impact factor: 2.947
Authors: Martina Preisler; Silke Heuse; Manuel Riemer; Friederike Kendel; Anne Letsch Journal: Support Care Cancer Date: 2017-10-04 Impact factor: 3.603
Authors: Jamie Bryant; Rochelle Smits; Heidi Turon; Rob Sanson-Fisher; Jennifer Engel Journal: Support Care Cancer Date: 2018-03-09 Impact factor: 3.603