The effects of different surgical approaches on the psychological status, medical coping mode and quality of life of patients with lung cancer

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to compare the effects of robot-assisted thoracic surgery (RATS), video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS), and thoracotomy on the psychological status, medical coping mode, and quality of life of patients with lung cancer. METHODS: A total of 158 patients with lung cancer were selected from the thoracic surgery center of a third-grade hospital in Hunan Province, China, from September to November 2020. The Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS), Medical Coping Modes Questionnaire (MCMQ), and Medical Outcomes Study (MOS) 36-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) were used to assess the effects of the surgical approaches on the study parameters before and 48–96 h after surgery. The t-test and analysis of variance were used to analyze the data. RESULTS: The results revealed that the patients’ depression increased, their short-term quality of life decreased, and they tended to adopt a positive coping mode after surgery (p < 0.05). The RATS and VATS groups differed in avoidance dimension of medical coping modes (p < 0.05). The VATS and thoracotomy groups differed in the body pain dimension of quality of life (p < 0.05). Different surgical approaches had no effect on the psychological status, medical coping modes except the avoidance dimension, and quality of life except the body pain dimension. CONCLUSION: Surgical approaches have little effect on the psychological status, medical coping modes, and quality of life of patients with lung cancer; however, their depression increased and quality of life decreased after the surgery.