Samhita Bhushan¹, Sukhen Joshi², Mayank Pancholi³, Jyoti Ranjan Swain⁴* and Rishila Majumder

¹Assistant Professor, Psychiatry, RDGMC, Ujjain, India
²Senior Resident, General Surgery, RDGMC, Ujjain, India
³Surgical Oncology, Ujjain, India
⁴Assistant Professor, Surgical Oncology, AIIMS, Bhubaneswar, India
⁵Senior Resident, Department of Pathology, AIIMS, Bhubaneswar, India

*Corresponding Author: Jyoti Ranjan Swain, Assistant Professor, Surgical Oncology, AIIMS, Bhubaneswar, India.

Received: May 12, 2022; Published: June 07, 2022

Abstract

Background: Psycho-oncology refers to diverse psychological, social, behavioral issues related to cancer prevention, treatment and survivorship. The prevalence of cancer in India is around 2.25 million with 1.1 million new cases per year. This research analyzed psychological and social factors affecting the victims of cancer in India and identified the role of various dynamic factors in its management.

Material and Methods: A prospective, cross-sectional study comprising 120 patients was conducted. A psychosocial questionnaire reflecting patient’s feelings, experiences and factors for abandonment and amotivation was used. Descriptive statistics was used for analyses.

Results: 50% of the study population constituted newly diagnosed cancer patients. Head and Neck cancer was the commonest cancer, affecting 37% of the patients. 41% patients were compliant, 31% patients were partially compliant, (28%) patients were noncompliant to the treatment. (63%) patients continued treatment with follow up. (28%) patients abandoned the treatment and (9%) patients got deceased. A financial constraint was the commonest reason for abandonment accounting for 65% of the patients. 74% patients experienced psychosocial stigma.

Conclusion: This research highlights the factors like financial stressors and obstacles like abandonment in the journey of a cancer patient in a rural Indian setup.

Keywords: Psychosocial; Cancer; Abandonment

Bibliography

1. SEER Incidence Database - SEER Data and Software. SEER (2019).
2. global-cancer-facts-and-figures-4th-edition.pdf.https://www.cancer.org/content/dam/cancer-org/research/cancer-facts-and-statistics/global-cancer-facts-and-figures/global-cancer-facts-and-figures-4th-edition.pdf
3. “Latest global cancer data: Cancer burden rises to 18.1 million new cases and 9.6 million cancer deaths in 2018”. (2018): 3.
4. Street W. “Cancer Facts and Figures” 1930 (2018): 76.
5. Faye AD., et al. “Focusing on Psychiatric aspects of cancer: A need of the day?” Panacea Journal of Medical Sciences 3 (2016): 117-124.
6. Given B., et al. “Burden and Depression Among Caregivers of Patients with Cancer at the End-of-life”. Oncology Nursing Forum 6 (2004): 1105-1117.
7. Falagas ME., et al. “The effect of psychosocial factors on breast cancer outcome: a systematic review”. Breast Cancer Research BCR4 (2007): R44.
8. Nausheen B., et al. “Social support and cancer progression: A systematic review”. Journal of Psychosomatic Research 5 (2009): 403-415.
9. Mehrotra S. “Psycho-Oncology Research in India: Current Status and Future Directions”. Oncology Research
10. Hanahan D and Weinberg RA. “Hallmarks of Cancer: The Next Generation”. Cell5 (2011): 646-674.
11. Antoni MH. “Psychosocial intervention effects on adaptation, disease course and biobehavioral processes in cancer”. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity 30 (2013): S88-S98.
12. Lamkin DM and Slavich GM. Psychosocial Factors and Cancer 3.
13. Pandey M. “Quality of life of patients with cancer in India: Challenges and hurdles in putting theory into practice”. Psychooncology 6 (2004): 429-433.
14. Venkateswaran C and Kumar TM. “Psycho-oncology in India: Emerging trends from Kerala”. Indian Journal of Palliative Care1 (2006): 34.
15. Nair D., et al. “Outcomes of surgically treated oral cancer patients at a tertiary cancer center in India”. Indian Journal of Cancer4 (2017): 616.
16. AwasthiI P., et al. “Health Beliefs and Behaviour of Cervix Cancer Patients”. Psychology and Developing Societies 1 (2006): 37-58.
17. Pitman A., et al. “Depression and anxiety in patients with cancer”. BMJ 361 (2018): k1415.
18. Prasad DV. “Self-Efficacy in Patients with Cancer - An Indian Scenario”. (2019).
19. Bedell CH. “A Changing Paradigm for Cancer Treatment: The Advent of New Oral Chemotherapy Agents”. Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing 7 (2007): 5-9.
20. Friedrich P., et al. “Magnitude of Treatment Abandonment in Childhood Cancer”. PLoS ONE9 (2015).
21. Singh M., et al. “Cancer research in India: Challenges and opportunities”. Indian Journal of Medical Research4 (2018): 362.
22. Weisman AD., et al. “The Existential Plight in Cancer: Significance of the First 100 Days”. Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine1 (1977): 1-15.
23. Mandal JM., et al. “Early childhood experiences and life events of male cancer patients, psycho-somatic patients and normal persons: A comparative study”. Social Science International 1-2 (1992): 44-49.
24. Kulhara P., et al. “Psychological aspects of cervical cancer”. Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine 2 (1988): 79-83.
25. Singh M. “Study on Psycho-Oncology Care In Medicine – Crucial Part of Oncology Treatment (With Specific Research and Survey Conducted Among Oncology Patients)”. 3.6 (2016): 8.
26. “Why cancer survival rate in India is a low 30 per cent”. (2019).
27. Billings JA. “Book Review”. The New England Journal of Medicine 11 (1993): 815-815.
28. Mahdavi A., et al. “The Effectiveness of Acceptance-Commitment Therapy (ACT) on Perceived Stress, Symptoms of Depression, and Marital Satisfaction in Women With Breast Cancer”. Archives of Breast Cancer (2017): 16-23.
29. Hanson Frost M., et al. “Physical, psychological and social well-being of women with breast cancer: the influence of disease phase”. Psychooncology 3 (2000): 221-231.
30. Shakespeare W. LINDA M. GORMAN, RN, MN, APRN, BC, OCN®, CHPN. :21.
31. Borneman T., et al. “Concerns of family caregivers of patients with cancer facing palliative surgery for advanced malignancies”. Oncology Nursing Forum 6 (2003): 997-1005.
32. Bhurgri Y., et al. “Pakistan - Country Profile of Cancer and Cancer Control 1995-2004”. 9.
33. Pandey M., et al. “Factors influencing distress in Indian cancer patients”. Psychooncology6 (2006): 547-550.
34. Greer S., et al. “Psychological response to breast cancer: effect on outcome”. The Lancet8146 (1979): 785-787.
35. Hislop TG., et al. “The prognostic significance of psychosocial factors in women with breast cancer”. Journal of Chronic Diseases 7 (1987): 729-735.
36. Davis RM., et al. “Good Care of the Dying Patient”. JAMA 6 (1996): 474-478.
37. Holm S. “Principles of Biomedical Ethics”. 5^th Beauchamp T L, Childress J F. Oxford University Press, £19.95 (2001): 454.

Citation: Jyoti Ranjan Swain., et al. “Spectrum of Psychosocial Dimensions of Cancer in Indian Scenario: An Analytic Review". Acta Scientific Clinical Case Reports 3.7 (2022): 20-25.

Copyright: © 2022 Jyoti Ranjan Swain., et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.