Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the study is to document in Hong Kong Chinese cancer survivors cross-sectional associations between illness perceptions, physical symptom distress and dispositional optimism.
Methods
A consecutive sample of 1036 (response rate, 86.1 %, mean age 55.18 years, 60 % female) survivors of different cancers recruited within 6 months of completion of adjuvant therapy from Hong Kong public hospitals completed the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (B-IPQ), Chinese version of the Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale Short-Form (MSAS-SF), and the revised Chinese version of Life Orientation Test (C-LOT-R), respectively. Stepwise multiple regression analyses examined adjusted associations.
Results
IPQ seriousness, symptom identity, illness concern, and emotional impact scores varied by cancer type (p < 0.01). Stress-related, lifestyle, environment, psychological/personality, and health-related factors were most frequently attributed causes of cancer. After adjustment for sample differences, physical symptom distress was significantly associated with all illness perception dimensions (p < 0.01), excepting control beliefs. Optimism was positively correlated with perceived personal and treatment control (p < 0.01) and illness understanding (p < 0.01), but negatively correlated with other IPQ dimensions (all p < 0.01). IPQ domain differences by cancer type were eliminated by adjustment for sample characteristics.
Conclusion
Illness perceptions did not differ by cancer type. Greater physical symptom distress and lower levels of optimism were associated with more negative illness perceptions.
Implications
Understanding how cancer survivors make sense of cancer can clarify an important aspect of adaptation. This in turn can inform interventions to facilitate adjustment. Knowledge contributions include evidence of physical symptom distress correlating with most dimensions of illness perception. Optimism was also associated with cancer survivors’ illness perceptions.
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Acknowledgments
This work was supported by a grant from Hong Kong Cancer Fund. The authors are grateful to all the research assistants for their contributions of the data collection and management and to the cancer survivors who participated in the study.
Compliance with ethical standards
Ethical approval was granted by The University of Hong Kong and public Hospital Authority ethics committees. All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
Informed consent
Informed consent was obtained from all participants included in the study.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
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Zhang, N., Fielding, R., Soong, I. et al. Illness perceptions among cancer survivors. Support Care Cancer 24, 1295–1304 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-015-2914-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-015-2914-3