Department of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Buea, P.O Box 63, Buea, South-West Region, Cameroon.
Buea Regional Hospital Annex, Buea, South-West Region, Cameroon.
BMC Palliat Care. 2022 Jun 1;21(1):96. doi: 10.1186/s12904-022-00981-w.
Psychosocial distress interferes with the ability to cope effectively with cancer, its physical symptoms and treatment. This in turn leads to poor outcomes in patients.
The aim of this study was to assess the level of psychosocial distress, emotional distress and the quality of life of cancer patients in two health facilities in Cameroon.
This study used a cross-sectional hospital-based design. The study was carried out over a period of three months from July-September 2020. The sample size was 120 cancer patients. A consecutive sampling technique was used to select participants. Three validated questionnaires were used: DT, HADS and EORTC QLQ-C30 to assess, psychosocial distress, emotional distress and quality of life respectively. Results were presented using descriptive (frequency, percentage, mean) and inferential statistics (Chi square, Pearson's correlation, ANOVA). Data were analysed with SPSS version 21. All statistics were considered significant at an alpha value set at 0.05 level.
The majority of patients 83 (69.2%) presented with clinically significant distress, with financial difficulties 87 (72.5%), fatigue 83 (69.2%), transportation 73 (60.8%) and difficulties with work/school 69(57.5%) being the most reported problems. Fifty nine (50.0%) and 56(47.5%) had moderate to severe anxiety and depression symptoms respectively. Overall on HADS, 67 patients (56.8%) presented with emotional distress. The quality of life was fair, with a mean of 52.4 ± 21.3.There was a statistically significant negative relationship (P < 0.0001), between psychosocial distress and quality of life of patients.
Cancer patients suffer from psychosocial distress, which has a negative relationship on their quality of life. It is important that healthcare professionals working in these settings, assess psychosocial distress early in patients with cancer to improve the quality of care and enhance quality of life.
心理社会困扰会干扰患者有效应对癌症、其身体症状和治疗的能力，进而导致患者预后不良。
本研究旨在评估喀麦隆两家医疗机构癌症患者的心理社会困扰程度、情绪困扰程度和生活质量。
本研究采用横断面医院设计。研究于 2020 年 7 月至 9 月期间进行，历时 3 个月。样本量为 120 例癌症患者。采用连续抽样技术选择参与者。使用三种经过验证的问卷评估心理社会困扰、情绪困扰和生活质量，分别为 DT、HADS 和 EORTC QLQ-C30。结果采用描述性（频率、百分比、平均值）和推断性统计（卡方检验、皮尔逊相关性、方差分析）呈现。使用 SPSS 版本 21 进行数据分析。所有统计均在设定的 0.05 水平的α值下被认为具有统计学意义。
大多数患者（83%）存在临床显著困扰，其中经济困难（87%）、疲劳（83%）、交通（73%）和工作/学业困难（69%）最为常见。59 例（50.0%）和 56 例（47.5%）患者分别有中度至重度焦虑和抑郁症状。根据 HADS，共有 67 例（56.8%）患者存在情绪困扰。生活质量一般，平均得分为 52.4±21.3。患者的心理社会困扰与生活质量之间存在显著的负相关关系（P<0.0001）。
癌症患者遭受心理社会困扰，这对他们的生活质量有负面影响。在这些环境中工作的医疗保健专业人员，应及早评估癌症患者的心理社会困扰，以改善护理质量并提高生活质量。
