Author:
Tang Pei-Ling,Lin Huey-Shyan,Wang Hsiu-Hung,Hu Li-Yu,Chou Fan-Hao
Abstract
Abstract
Background
Demoralization is a psychological response that is frequently observed in patients with cancer or advanced diseases. It is affected by national characteristics, culture, disease characteristics and general conditions of the patient such as individual cultural features, nature of stress, personal expression preferences and social behavior. Compared with the results of previous studies on demoralization syndrome, patients with cancer in Taiwan exhibit a higher prevalence of demoralization. We aimed to investigate the prevalence of high demoralization and the changes in the level of demoralization in cancer patients during radiotherapy to explore the associated factors and the contributing factors to the high level of demoralization.
Methods
We used the Demoralization Scale-Mandarin Version to evaluate the demoralization level at six-time points in patients admitted for radiotherapy in a 3-month observational period. 101 patients allocated to three groups by cancer region completed the study. We applied the generalized estimating equation (GEE) to analyze the changes in the demoralization level among the three groups. The variables associated with the changes in the demoralization level were also investigated.
Results
In the analysis using univariate GEE, only patients in the chest and breast group exhibited significant changes at two different time points. The results obtained using multivariate GEE revealed that sociodemographic variables, stage of disease and use of surgery or chemotherapy had no impact on the changes in demoralization across three months.
Conclusion
The demoralization level certainly fluctuated in an extremely high range. The higher prevalence of demoralized patients may indicate that if medical staff neglect the importance of demoralization, demoralized patients with cancer may not receive appropriate care.
Funder
Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Reference29 articles.
1. Bovero A, Botto R, Adriano B, Opezzo M, Tesio V, Torta R. Exploring demoralization in end-of-life cancer patients: Prevalence, latent dimensions, and associations with other psychosocial variables. Palliat Care. 2019;17:596–603.
2. Xu K, Hu D, Liu Y, Han Y, Guo X, Teng F, Zhou Y. Relationship of Suicidal Ideation With Demoralization, Depression, and Anxiety: A Study of Cancer Patients in Mainland China. J Nerv Ment Dis. 2019;207:326–32.
3. An E, Lo C, Hales S, Zimmermann C, Rodin G. Demoralization and death anxiety in advanced cancer. Psycho-Oncol. 2018;27:2566–72.
4. Aho KA. Heidegger, ontological death, and the healing professions. Med Health Care Philos. 2016;19:55–63.
5. Kissane DW, Clarke DM, Street AF. Demoralization syndrome–a relevant psychiatric diagnosis for palliative care. J Palliat Care. 2001;17:12–21.
Cited by
2 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献