Mustafa Soner Yilmaz1, Birgül Piyal2, Recep Akdur2. 1. Kocasinan Community Health Center, Kayseri, Turkey. 2. Department of Public Health, School of Medicine, Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey.
Abstract
BACKGROUND/AIM: Cancer has become an important public health challenge all around the world. Though the demographic and clinical features of cancer patients are well documented in Turkey, the establishment of social support networks has been somewhat neglected. The aim of the study was to assess cancer patients' perceived social support and quality of life characteristics. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The Multidimensional Perceived Social Support Scale, European Organization of Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire, and Turkish version of the EUROHIS measurements were obtained from the study group. Associations between the scores and sociodemographic variables of the patients were evaluated. Determination of the best predictors that affect social support perception scores was performed by multiple linear regression analysis. RESULTS: A total of 364 patients (217 females, 147 males) were analyzed. Regarding the mean scores of perceived social support, statistically significant differences were found between education, perceived economic status, and ECOG groups (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The best predictors that have an effect on perceived social support need to be studied in depth with further research.
BACKGROUND/AIM: Cancer has become an important public health challenge all around the world. Though the demographic and clinical features of cancerpatients are well documented in Turkey, the establishment of social support networks has been somewhat neglected. The aim of the study was to assess cancerpatients' perceived social support and quality of life characteristics. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The Multidimensional Perceived Social Support Scale, European Organization of Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire, and Turkish version of the EUROHIS measurements were obtained from the study group. Associations between the scores and sociodemographic variables of the patients were evaluated. Determination of the best predictors that affect social support perception scores was performed by multiple linear regression analysis. RESULTS: A total of 364 patients (217 females, 147 males) were analyzed. Regarding the mean scores of perceived social support, statistically significant differences were found between education, perceived economic status, and ECOG groups (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The best predictors that have an effect on perceived social support need to be studied in depth with further research.
Entities:
Keywords:
Cancer patients; EORTC QLQ-C30 Quality of Life Scale; Multidimensional Perceived Social Support Scale; WHOQOL-8.Tr Quality of Life Scale; quality of life and social support