Biswas Jheelam, Bhuiyan A K M Motiur Rahman, Alam Afroja, Chowdhury Mostofa Kamal
Department of Palliative Medicine, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), Shahbag, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh.
Department of Palliative Medicine, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Palliat Care Soc Pract. 2024 May 27;18:26323524241256379. doi: 10.1177/26323524241256379. eCollection 2024.
Cancer patients experience significant changes in their social roles along with various physical and psychological challenges. Despite the growing recognition of the importance of palliative care in Bangladesh, there is a notable gap in research focusing on the psychosocial issues faced by patients with advanced cancer.
This study aims to explore the level of social support perceived by Bangladeshi cancer patients and determine how this support relates to their mental health status.
This cross-sectional study was conducted among 115 advanced cancer (stages III and IV) patients admitted to the palliative medicine department of a tertiary care hospital in Bangladesh. Perceived social support was measured by the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, and the mental health status of the patients was assessed by Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-21. Data collection was done from June to November 2023. Relationships between perceived social support, depression, anxiety, and stress were assessed by the Spearman correlation test. The moderating effect of perceived social support on patients' mental health variables was determined by multiple linear regression and simple slope analysis. Value <0.05 was considered to be statistically significant.
The study included an almost equal number of male (49.6%) and female (50.4%) patients, with a mean age of 50.7 ± 14.4 years. Overall, perceived social support was moderate to high for most (74.7%) of the participants. Among the participants, 78.3% experienced anxiety, 77.4% suffered from depression, and 70.5% experienced stress. Depression, anxiety, and stress were all negatively and significantly ( < 0.05) correlated with perceived social support. Younger patients reported higher levels of anxiety, stress, and depression. Perceived social support had a significant buffering effect on depression and anxiety among the younger patients.
Perceived social support has a profound and significant effect on the mental health of advanced cancer patients. Integrating psychosocial support early in palliative care can be highly beneficial to the mental health of these patients.
癌症患者在经历各种身体和心理挑战的同时，其社会角色也会发生重大变化。尽管孟加拉国对姑息治疗的重要性的认识日益提高，但针对晚期癌症患者面临的心理社会问题的研究仍存在显著差距。
本研究旨在探讨孟加拉国癌症患者所感知到的社会支持水平，并确定这种支持与他们的心理健康状况之间的关系。
这项横断面研究在孟加拉国一家三级护理医院姑息医学科收治的115例晚期癌症（III期和IV期）患者中进行。通过多维感知社会支持量表测量感知到的社会支持，通过抑郁、焦虑和压力量表-21评估患者的心理健康状况。数据收集于2023年6月至11月进行。通过Spearman相关检验评估感知到的社会支持、抑郁、焦虑和压力之间的关系。通过多元线性回归和简单斜率分析确定感知到的社会支持对患者心理健康变量的调节作用。P值<0.05被认为具有统计学意义。
该研究纳入的男性患者（49.6%）和女性患者（50.4%）数量几乎相等，平均年龄为50.7±14.4岁。总体而言，大多数（74.7%）参与者感知到的社会支持为中度至高。在参与者中，78.3%经历过焦虑，77.4%患有抑郁症，70.5%经历过压力。抑郁、焦虑和压力均与感知到的社会支持呈显著负相关（P<0.05）。年轻患者报告的焦虑、压力和抑郁水平较高。感知到的社会支持对年轻患者的抑郁和焦虑具有显著的缓冲作用。
感知到的社会支持对晚期癌症患者的心理健康具有深远而显著的影响。在姑息治疗早期整合心理社会支持对这些患者的心理健康可能非常有益。
