Courtens A M, Stevens F C, Crebolder H F, Philipsen H
Department of Nursing Science, University of Limburg, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Cancer Nurs. 1996 Jun;19(3):162-9. doi: 10.1097/00002820-199606000-00002.
The aim of the present study is to acquire insight into the changes of quality of life, social networks, and social support of cancer patients during the first year after diagnosis, as well as into the relation between social support and the changes in quality of life. Newly diagnosed cancer patients (n = 51) were followed for 1 year. Semistructured personal interviews and questionnaires were used to gather data. On the average, patients' functioning improved and the amount of physical complaints decreased over the year. Psychological complaints and the global evaluation of life, however, did not change significantly over time. The patients were supported by small, dense networks, consisting mostly of family members. Size of the networks as well as the amount of emotional support showed some decrease over time. It appeared that emotional support was positively related to quality of life. Moreover, a tendency was found to indicate that patients with a deterioration in quality of life perceived a larger decrease in emotional support than patients with a positive course. The amount of perceived instrumental support did not change significantly. There is a tendency that patients who were functioning worse had a greater need for instrumental support. Although these findings indicate relations between types of support and quality of life, we cannot make statements on the causality of these relations.
本研究的目的是深入了解癌症患者在确诊后的第一年中生活质量、社交网络和社会支持的变化，以及社会支持与生活质量变化之间的关系。对新确诊的癌症患者（n = 51）进行了为期1年的随访。采用半结构化个人访谈和问卷调查收集数据。平均而言，患者的功能有所改善，一年中身体不适的数量有所减少。然而，心理不适和生活的总体评价随时间没有显著变化。患者得到的是小型、紧密的社交网络支持，主要由家庭成员组成。社交网络的规模以及情感支持的数量随时间有所减少。结果表明，情感支持与生活质量呈正相关。此外，还发现一种趋势，即生活质量恶化的患者比生活状况良好的患者感受到的情感支持下降幅度更大。感知到的工具性支持的数量没有显著变化。有一种趋势是，功能较差的患者对工具性支持的需求更大。虽然这些发现表明了支持类型与生活质量之间的关系，但我们无法对这些关系的因果性作出陈述。
