Hopelessness, Death Anxiety, and Social Support of Hospitalized Patients With Gynecologic Cancer and Their Caregivers

Background Gynecologic cancer can create hopelessness and death anxiety and alter the lifestyle of the affected women and their caregivers. Perceived social support may facilitate coping with this illness. Objective The aim of this study was to determine whether hospitalized patients with gynecologic cancer and their caregivers differ in feelings of hopelessness and death anxiety and how those conditions may be related to their social support. Methods Two hundred patients with gynecologic cancer and their 200 caregivers from 1 university hospital were enrolled in this descriptive correlational study. Study measures included a demographic form, the Perceived Social Support Scale, the Beck Hopelessness Scale, and the Thorson-Powell's Death Anxiety Scale. Data were analyzed using Student t test, Pearson correlation test, and linear regression analyses. Results Patients had higher hopelessness and death anxiety compared with caregivers (P
Source: Cancer Nursing - Category: Nursing Tags: ARTICLES Source Type: research