Social Support for Patients with Prostate Cancer

Abstract

Questionnaires were administered to 234 patients with prostate cancer (142 attended support groups, 92 did not) to determine their sources of emotional, informational, and practical support and the relationship between their satisfaction with this support and their self-reports of coping and quality of life. Attenders were significantly more likely to cite other patients as sources of all three types of support. Furthermore, attenders cited fellow patients as their most helpful source of informational support, whereas nonattenders cited medical staff. Satisfaction with social support was significantly correlated with coping and quality of life. No significant differences were found between attenders and nonattenders regarding coping, quality of life, or satisfaction with the three types of support. The results are interpreted according to individual differences in how the patients satisfied their needs for support.

Key Words:

• Social support
• prostate cancer
• support groups