![Sample our Health and Social Care journals, sign in here to start your FREE access for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5938/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Health-Social-Care.jpg"})
Abstract
Ninety-nine undergraduates read one of three descriptions of a seriously ill woman and were asked to imagine that the patient was a family friend. The descriptions were identical except for the nature of the patient's illness breast cancer, lung cancer, or heart attack. The students then completed a questionnaire regarding their perceptions of and reactions to the patient. A MANOVA revealed significant differences among the diagnostic grou s (F[24,170 = 8.51, < .001), and univariate analyses indicate that the students' responses to 8 of the 12 questions were different. Newman-Keuls comparisons revealed that in several instances, scores for lung and breast cancer patients were equivalent and more negative than the scores for heart attack patients. The students' responses to other questions concerning the breast cancer patient were more negative than those about the other two patients. The implications of the results for the care and treatment of breast cancer patients are discussed.