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A qualitative study on experiences of stigma among postoperative oral cancer patients

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Abstract

Aim

This study aimed to explore the characteristics of stigma in postoperative oral cancer patients to provide a reference for the formulation of targeted intervention measures.

Methods

A qualitative study was conducted on 25 postoperative oral cancer patients in a tertiary A hospital in Hunan, China, from March to July 2021. Semi-structured face-to-face interviews focused on experiences of stigma were performed. The interview data was analyzed using the NVivo V.12 software based on the reflexive intuitive thematic analysis method. The paper complies with the COREQ.

Results

The stigma experience of postoperative oral cancer patients can be divided into 3 themes: (1) triggers (impaired appearance and oral function and psycho-social pressure); (2) forms (overall isolation, unpleasant feeling of inferiority, and unpleasant social discrimination); (3) coping strategies (positive psychological adjustment, seeking social support and coming out of the unpleasant shadows).

Conclusion

Postoperative oral cancer patients clearly articulated that stigma was present in their lives and they experienced multiple forms of stigma. Further work is needed to increase education and awareness about oral cancer to guide them to take positive coping and reduce stigma.

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Data availability

No datasets were generated or analysed during the current study.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank all patients in this study for sharing their experiments.

Funding

This study was supported by Scientific Research Project of Health Commission of Hunan Province (#B202214023438). The funders played no role in the design of the study and collection, analysis, and interpretation of data and in writing the manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Clinical Nursing Teaching and Research Section, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, 139 Renmin Middle Road, Changsha, 410011, Hunan, China

    Jie Zhu, Jia-Yi Guo, Rong-Hong Yang & Man Ye

  2. Xiangya Nursing School of Central South University, Changsha, 410013, Hunan, China

    Jie Zhu, Chu-Xia Tan, Jia-Yi Guo & Man Ye

  3. Nursing Department, The Third Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, 410013, Hunan, China

    Chu-Xia Tan

  4. Intensive Care Unit of Stomatology, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, 410011, Hunan, China

    Rong-Hong Yang

Authors
  1. Jie Zhu
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  2. Chu-Xia Tan
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  3. Jia-Yi Guo
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  4. Rong-Hong Yang
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  5. Man Ye
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Jie Zhu: formal analysis; visualization; figure-making; writing—original draft and revising; Chu-Xia Tan: data collection; formal analysis; visualization; writing—original draft and revising; Man Ye: conceptualization, formal analysis, visualization, writing—review and editing; Jia-Yi Guo: data analysis and writing—review; Rong-Hong Yang: data collection and data analysis. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Man Ye.

Ethics declarations

Ethics approval

Ethical approval was provided by the College Ethics Review Committee of Xiangya Nursing School of Central South University (Approval Number: E202060).

Ethics accordance

This study was performed in line with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. All participants signed the informed consent form and were informed that they could refuse to answer any questions or withdraw from the study at any time.

Consent to participate

Both verbal and written informed consent was obtained from the participants.

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

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Jie Zhu and Chu-Xia Tan are co-first authors.

Supplementary Information

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Supplementary file1 (DOCX 17 KB)

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Zhu, J., Tan, CX., Guo, JY. et al. A qualitative study on experiences of stigma among postoperative oral cancer patients. Support Care Cancer 32, 286 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-024-08491-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-024-08491-6

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