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The psychosocial burden of women seeking treatment for breast and cervical cancers in Ghana’s major cancer hospitals

BACKGROUND: Breast and cervical cancers remain the most common cancers and the leading cause of cancer deaths in Ghana. Non-communicable diseases such as cancers, have been associated with psychological burdens such as anxiety and depression disorders as well as severe mental disorders such as bipol...

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Autores principales: Okyere Asante, Patience Gyamenah, Owusu, Adobea Yaa, Oppong, Joseph Ransford, Amegah, Kingsley E., Nketiah-Amponsah, Edward
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10443842/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37607175
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0289055
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author Okyere Asante, Patience Gyamenah
Owusu, Adobea Yaa
Oppong, Joseph Ransford
Amegah, Kingsley E.
Nketiah-Amponsah, Edward
author_facet Okyere Asante, Patience Gyamenah
Owusu, Adobea Yaa
Oppong, Joseph Ransford
Amegah, Kingsley E.
Nketiah-Amponsah, Edward
author_sort Okyere Asante, Patience Gyamenah
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Breast and cervical cancers remain the most common cancers and the leading cause of cancer deaths in Ghana. Non-communicable diseases such as cancers, have been associated with psychological burdens such as anxiety and depression disorders as well as severe mental disorders such as bipolar disorder. As such the World Health Organisation has noted that mental health and well-being are crucial in reducing the NCD burden. METHODS: A convergent mixed method approach was used to ascertain the psychosocial burden of breast and cervical cancer patients who sought treatment in three major cancer hospitals in Ghana. Primary data were collected using a questionnaire and an interview guide from 298 breast and cervical cancer patients seeking treatment at the Korle-Bu and Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospitals as well as the Sweden Ghana Medical Centre. Qualitative analysis was done using thematic content analysis while quantitative analysis was done using logistic regression. RESULTS: The findings of the study showed that patients not only battled with psychological burdens such as anxiety, depression, pain, stigma, fear of death and loss of spouses but also struggled with physical, social, and dietary restrictions. Patients with low educational levels and income status, retired or unemployed, and/or had larger household sizes suffered more psychosocial burdens. CONCLUSION: There is a need for liaison psychiatrists and health psychologists to assist oncologists to provide psychological support such as free and routine counselling services for cancer patients and their caregivers. Educational campaigns on mainstream and social media need to be intensified to demystify the stigma surrounding cancers in Ghana.
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spelling pubmed-104438422023-08-23 The psychosocial burden of women seeking treatment for breast and cervical cancers in Ghana’s major cancer hospitals Okyere Asante, Patience Gyamenah Owusu, Adobea Yaa Oppong, Joseph Ransford Amegah, Kingsley E. Nketiah-Amponsah, Edward PLoS One Research Article BACKGROUND: Breast and cervical cancers remain the most common cancers and the leading cause of cancer deaths in Ghana. Non-communicable diseases such as cancers, have been associated with psychological burdens such as anxiety and depression disorders as well as severe mental disorders such as bipolar disorder. As such the World Health Organisation has noted that mental health and well-being are crucial in reducing the NCD burden. METHODS: A convergent mixed method approach was used to ascertain the psychosocial burden of breast and cervical cancer patients who sought treatment in three major cancer hospitals in Ghana. Primary data were collected using a questionnaire and an interview guide from 298 breast and cervical cancer patients seeking treatment at the Korle-Bu and Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospitals as well as the Sweden Ghana Medical Centre. Qualitative analysis was done using thematic content analysis while quantitative analysis was done using logistic regression. RESULTS: The findings of the study showed that patients not only battled with psychological burdens such as anxiety, depression, pain, stigma, fear of death and loss of spouses but also struggled with physical, social, and dietary restrictions. Patients with low educational levels and income status, retired or unemployed, and/or had larger household sizes suffered more psychosocial burdens. CONCLUSION: There is a need for liaison psychiatrists and health psychologists to assist oncologists to provide psychological support such as free and routine counselling services for cancer patients and their caregivers. Educational campaigns on mainstream and social media need to be intensified to demystify the stigma surrounding cancers in Ghana. Public Library of Science 2023-08-22 /pmc/articles/PMC10443842/ /pubmed/37607175 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0289055 Text en © 2023 Okyere Asante et al https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Okyere Asante, Patience Gyamenah
Owusu, Adobea Yaa
Oppong, Joseph Ransford
Amegah, Kingsley E.
Nketiah-Amponsah, Edward
The psychosocial burden of women seeking treatment for breast and cervical cancers in Ghana’s major cancer hospitals
title The psychosocial burden of women seeking treatment for breast and cervical cancers in Ghana’s major cancer hospitals
title_full The psychosocial burden of women seeking treatment for breast and cervical cancers in Ghana’s major cancer hospitals
title_fullStr The psychosocial burden of women seeking treatment for breast and cervical cancers in Ghana’s major cancer hospitals
title_full_unstemmed The psychosocial burden of women seeking treatment for breast and cervical cancers in Ghana’s major cancer hospitals
title_short The psychosocial burden of women seeking treatment for breast and cervical cancers in Ghana’s major cancer hospitals
title_sort psychosocial burden of women seeking treatment for breast and cervical cancers in ghana’s major cancer hospitals
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10443842/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37607175
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0289055
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