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Cancer patients attending treatment during COVID-19: intolerance of uncertainty and psychological distress

PURPOSE: The COVID-19 pandemic presents specific challenges for cancer patients attending oncology treatment. Using a mixed-methods design (convergent parallel design), we aimed to assess the experience, perceptions, and reactions of cancer patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: Participant...

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Autores principales: Cohen, Miri, Yagil, Dana, Aviv, Ariel, Soffer, Michal, Bar-Sela, Gil
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Springer US 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8783796/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35066775
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11764-021-01126-3
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author Cohen, Miri
Yagil, Dana
Aviv, Ariel
Soffer, Michal
Bar-Sela, Gil
author_facet Cohen, Miri
Yagil, Dana
Aviv, Ariel
Soffer, Michal
Bar-Sela, Gil
author_sort Cohen, Miri
collection PubMed
description PURPOSE: The COVID-19 pandemic presents specific challenges for cancer patients attending oncology treatment. Using a mixed-methods design (convergent parallel design), we aimed to assess the experience, perceptions, and reactions of cancer patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: Participants were cancer patients receiving treatment at the hospital during the pandemic (July to August 2020). In study 1, 95 participants filled out a questionnaire measuring COVID-19 experiences and perceptions, psychological distress, and intolerance of uncertainty. In study 2, in-depth interviews were conducted with 10 cancer patients, probing their experience during the COVID-19 period. RESULTS: Most participants experienced the COVID-19 pandemic as a major threat that would affect future health, most attended all or most of their scheduled treatments, and their mean level of psychological distress was low. A mild decrease in social support was reported, and remote contacts and support from the community had not compensated for decreased person-to person contacts. In addition, intolerance of uncertainty was related to higher psychological distress, which was partially mediated by perceptions of threat. The analysis of in-depth interviews strengthened the quantitative findings by elucidating the experience of fear of contagion alongside determination to continue treatment. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR CANCER SURVIVORS: The mixed-methods design enabled us to examine the responses of cancer patients attending treatment. The findings suggest that in times of extreme uncertainty such as COVID-19, health experts need to screen cancer patients and survivors for emotional and instrumental support needs and identify patients and survivors with high intolerance of uncertainty as a risk factor for psychological distress.
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spelling pubmed-87837962022-01-24 Cancer patients attending treatment during COVID-19: intolerance of uncertainty and psychological distress Cohen, Miri Yagil, Dana Aviv, Ariel Soffer, Michal Bar-Sela, Gil J Cancer Surviv Article PURPOSE: The COVID-19 pandemic presents specific challenges for cancer patients attending oncology treatment. Using a mixed-methods design (convergent parallel design), we aimed to assess the experience, perceptions, and reactions of cancer patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: Participants were cancer patients receiving treatment at the hospital during the pandemic (July to August 2020). In study 1, 95 participants filled out a questionnaire measuring COVID-19 experiences and perceptions, psychological distress, and intolerance of uncertainty. In study 2, in-depth interviews were conducted with 10 cancer patients, probing their experience during the COVID-19 period. RESULTS: Most participants experienced the COVID-19 pandemic as a major threat that would affect future health, most attended all or most of their scheduled treatments, and their mean level of psychological distress was low. A mild decrease in social support was reported, and remote contacts and support from the community had not compensated for decreased person-to person contacts. In addition, intolerance of uncertainty was related to higher psychological distress, which was partially mediated by perceptions of threat. The analysis of in-depth interviews strengthened the quantitative findings by elucidating the experience of fear of contagion alongside determination to continue treatment. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR CANCER SURVIVORS: The mixed-methods design enabled us to examine the responses of cancer patients attending treatment. The findings suggest that in times of extreme uncertainty such as COVID-19, health experts need to screen cancer patients and survivors for emotional and instrumental support needs and identify patients and survivors with high intolerance of uncertainty as a risk factor for psychological distress. Springer US 2022-01-23 2022 /pmc/articles/PMC8783796/ /pubmed/35066775 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11764-021-01126-3 Text en © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2021 This article is made available via the PMC Open Access Subset for unrestricted research re-use and secondary analysis in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for the duration of the World Health Organization (WHO) declaration of COVID-19 as a global pandemic.
spellingShingle Article
Cohen, Miri
Yagil, Dana
Aviv, Ariel
Soffer, Michal
Bar-Sela, Gil
Cancer patients attending treatment during COVID-19: intolerance of uncertainty and psychological distress
title Cancer patients attending treatment during COVID-19: intolerance of uncertainty and psychological distress
title_full Cancer patients attending treatment during COVID-19: intolerance of uncertainty and psychological distress
title_fullStr Cancer patients attending treatment during COVID-19: intolerance of uncertainty and psychological distress
title_full_unstemmed Cancer patients attending treatment during COVID-19: intolerance of uncertainty and psychological distress
title_short Cancer patients attending treatment during COVID-19: intolerance of uncertainty and psychological distress
title_sort cancer patients attending treatment during covid-19: intolerance of uncertainty and psychological distress
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8783796/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35066775
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11764-021-01126-3
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