Social support in cancer patients referring to Sayed Al-Shohada Hospital

BACKGROUND: Cancer diagnosis is an important event in an individual’s life which has considerable outcomes and implications for patient and his/her family. Meanwhile, receiving assistance and support from family and friends has a significant impact on patients to help them to cope with disease-related stress and its treatment. This study aimed to assess the received social support and its correlation with demographic and medical variables. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study on two hundred cancer patients referred to Sayed Al-Shohada Medical Center in Isfahan, Iran. The study subjects were selected through convenient sampling method and required information collected by questionnaire containing demographic and medical data and Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS). Some of the inclusion criteria included age over 18 with no history of mental disorders and not being at final stages of the disease. Content validity of MSPSS was confirmed by experts and its reliability was evaluated by test-retest (r > 0.85). FINDINGS: The majority of cancer patients (94.5%) perceived a high rate of social support from their families, friends and relatives. Furthermore, the findings indicated a statistical significant correlation between the numbers of children with social support; however, no significant correlation was found between other demographic and medical variables with social support. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study indicated receiving the maximum acceptable social support from family, especially children, in patients with cancer. However, conducting further extensive studies is recommended to find effective factors on social support of patients with cancer.