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Meaning in life of patients with cancer

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 June 2013

Behice Erci
Behice Erci*
Affiliation:
Nursing Department, Malatya School Health, İnönü University, Malatya, Turkey
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Behice Erci, İnönü Üniversitesi, Malatya Sağlık Yüksekokulu, 44280 Malatya, Türkiye. E-mail: behiceerci@hotmail.com
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Abstract

Objective:

The aim of this study was to evaluate meaning in life and its predictors in Turkish patients with cancer.

Methods:

A convenience sample of 182 patients with cancer at a Turkish university hospital completed a structured questionnaire including demographic characteristics, disease/treatment characteristics, symptom level, and the meaning in life scale for patients with cancer in 2007. The researcher visited the oncology clinic five work days in every week and conducted interviews with the patients. In analysis of the data, correlation, t-tests, Kruskal-Wallis variance and regression analysis were used.

Results:

In this study, the mean score of the total meaning in life showed that the patients tended to be undecided concerning meaning in life. Education level, age, and diagnosis duration of the independent variables were effective predictors of meaning in life. Together the independent variables explained 24.3% of the variance of the purpose subscale, 26.2% of the variance of the coherence subscale, 14% of the variance of the choice/responsibleness subscale, and 44.1% of the total variance of the goal seeking subscale. Overall the independent variables explained 19.8% of the total variance of the total meaning in life.

Significance of results:

The results in this study should increase the awareness of cancer care professionals about a range of the meaning in life and may help them to target particular patient groups for detail support interventions.

Keywords

Cancer characteristicsCancer treatmentMeaning in lifeDemographic characteristicsNursing
Type
Original Articles
Information
Palliative & Supportive Care , Volume 13 , Issue 1 , February 2015 , pp. 3 - 10
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

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