Fatemeh Moslemi¹, Nazanin Rahbanian², Elham Abbaszadeh³, Behjat Kalantari⁴ and Maryam Alsadat Hashemipour⁵*

¹Postgraduate Student of Pediatric Dentistry, Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Dental School, Kerman of University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
²General Dentist, Private Practice, Kerman, Iran
³Assistant Professor of Oral Medicine, Department of Oral Medicine, Dental School, Kerman of University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
⁴Assistant Professor of Oncology, Department of Oncology, Medical School, Kerman of University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
⁵Professor of Oral Medicine, Department of Oral Medicine, Dental School, Kerman of University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran

*Corresponding Author: Maryam Alsadat Hashemipour, Professor of Oral Medicine, Department of Oral Medicine, Dental School, Kerman of University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran.

Received: April 15, 2021; Published: May 24, 2021

Abstract

Introduction: Many people, having been diagnosed with cancer, experience high levels of inability and frustration while coping with this disease in individual and familial lives. To return to their normal lives, these patients need help to cope with the disease and meet their various needs. Coping with cancer refers to a set of attitudes and practices that one adopts to preserve health, well-being, happiness, and to overcome the stresses from cancer. This study aimed to investigate coping with cancer in patients with head and neck cancers in Kerman and Isfahan using the Cancer Coping Questionnaire.

Materials and Methods: The studied population was patients presenting to the Oncology Ward of Shafa and Bahonar Hospitals in Kerman and Omid Hospital in Isfahan in 2019 - 2020. The questionnaire was provided by a senior student to the patients in a quiet environment. A questionnaire consisting of several parts was used to collect data. The demographic questionnaire included age, type of treatment, stage of illness, marital status, level of education, economic status and lifestyle. The Cancer Coping Questionnaire consists of 22 items with two subscales of personal and interpersonal. In this study, descriptive statistics, i.e., percentage and frequency, mean and standard deviation, t-tests, ANOVA and SPSS21 statistical software was applied.

Results: 164 people participated in this study, 85 were men and 79 were women. The mean age of the participants was 40.3 ± 5.12 years. The mean coping score by participants was 37.99 ± 12.2. Considering that this variable can range from 22 to 88, one would conclude that the coping rate of the people with head and neck cancer was at a low level. The study of the relationship between age, coping and disease duration suggested that there was no significant relationship between age and coping level (P = 0.662).

Also, there was no significant relationship between the duration of the disease and the mean score from the questionnaire (P = 0.156). The coping of people undergoing chemotherapy was greater than that in surgery (P = 0.024), but it was no different from surgery with chemotherapy (P = 0.442).

The results suggested that there was no significant relationship between coping, gender, marital status and level of education (P = 0.901, P = 0.494, P = 0.275, P = 0.556, respectively).

Conclusion: This study reaffirmed that coping in people with head and neck cancer was generally low. Also, a low average score was obtained in the personal and interpersonal dimensions. Individuals' incomes may create differences in the extent of their coping, as increasing age reduces planning and deviated thinking in individuals. To sum, as the duration of the disease increases, the amount of coping increases.

Keywords: Coping; Cancer; Patients; Head; Neck

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Citation

Citation: Maryam Alsadat Hashemipour., et al. “Coping with Cancer in Patients with Head and Neck Cancers in Iran”. Acta Scientific Dental Sciences 5.6 (2021): 129-139.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2021 Maryam Alsadat Hashemipour., 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.