[Psychological aspects of the fear of cancer (author's transl)].

The fear of cancer was investigated in 423 women in our policlinic by means of a questionnaire. Psychological and sociological data, knowledge of the genital organs and experience of gynecological events were recorded. Of the women questioned, 16% said that they "often" feared suffering from cancer, 57% "sometimes" and 27% "seldom/never". The fear of cancer increased with age (P 5%). Women with higher education expressed fear of cancer more rarely (P 1%). The greater the knowledge of the genital organs, the less the fear of caner (P 5% and P 1%). Women with unpleasant experience or expectation of gynecological procedures frequently expressed fear of cancer. Of 12 with FPI recorded personality dimensions, 8 had a statistically significant relationship to fear of cancer. The fear of cancer had an effect on the attitude to investigation for early detection of cancer (P 10%) and to the curability of cancer detected early (P 1%).