The Psychosocial Impact of Cancer

Abstract

Twenty-five cancer patients and 32 healthy control subjects were evaluated Reprehensivly to determine the uniquet impact of living with incura le cancer on psychological distress, sleep, physical abilities, quality of life, marital distress atterns of daily living, and fund 04 illness-related information. The authors hypothesized that cancer patients would have higher levels of psychological distress, more Impaired physical abilities, poorer quality of life, and more marital distress than would the healthy controls because of the deleterious effects of cancer. The authors also hypothesized that the cancer patients would be less physically active, spend more time alone in passive activities, and spend less time in work and recreational activities. Because of the patients' ongoing experiences with cancer, they were expected to have a greater fund of information about cancer than the healthy controls. Although the results indicated considerable support for these hypotheses, the patients appeared to be less distressed and more active than anttcipated, which suggests that patients make a reasonable adaptation to their illness with the passage of time.