Effects of stigma, hope and social support on quality of life among Chinese patients diagnosed with oral cancer: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: Improving quality of life (QoL) has been one of the goals of health care for people living with oral cancer. This study aimed to assess QoL and investigate the effects of stigma, hope, and social support on QoL among Chinese oral cancer patients. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted at the Department of Stomatology, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University and Stomatology Hospital of China Medical University in Liaoning Province, China, between May 2016 and October 2017. A total of 230 oral cancer patients were recruited to complete a questionnaire including the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Head and Neck (FACT-H&N), the Social Impact Scale (SIS), the Herth Hope Index (HHI) and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS). Univariate one-way ANOVA/t-test, Person’s r and hierarchical linear regression analysis were conducted to explore the factors influencing QoL and the relationships between stigma, hope, perceived social support and QoL. RESULTS: The mean QoL score was 90.85 ± 20.15 among the patients with oral cancer. Stigma was negatively related to QoL, explaining 39.3% of the variance. In addition, hope and perceived social support were positively associated with QoL, explaining 8.1% of the variance. CONCLUSION: Overall, Chinese patients with oral cancer suffer from low QoL. Stigma was significantly and negatively associated with QoL, while hope and perceived social support were positively associated with QoL. Oral cancer patients’ psychological states should be addressed, and adequate intervention based on positive psychological resources should be provided to improve the QoL of patients with oral cancer.