Associated factors of hope in cancer patients during treatment: A systematic literature review

Abstract

AimTo identify the associated factors of hope during treatment in cancer patients.BackgroundHope is very important to cancer patients at all stages of the disease process. Hope is seen as an important coping mechanism. Most research about hope in cancer patients considered the end of life or in palliative care. Several and different factors are associated with hope. It is not yet sufficiently clear which factors are associated with hope during the treatment.DesignA systematic literature review of quantitative empirical studies on hope in cancer patients during treatment.Data SourcesSearch in MEDLINE (PubMed interface), CINAHL (EBSCO interface), Psychinfo and Cochrane (January 2009–December 2018).Review MethodsEmpirical quantitative studies were included regardless of the disease stage, written in English or Dutch, measuring hope from the perspective of cancer patients. Two authors independently screened all the studies and assessed their quality.ResultsThirty‐three studies were included. Positive relationship has been established between hope and quality of life, social support, spiritual and existential well‐being. Hope appears to be negatively associated with symptom burden, psychological distress and depression. There appears to be no relationship between hope and demographic and clinical variables. The relationship between anxiety and hope remains unclear.ConclusionsHope primarily seems to be a process that takes place in a person's inner being rather than being determined from outside.ImpactHealth professionals may want to focus on the meaning of hope for cancer patients in relation to the associated factors. A better understanding of the meaning of hope during treatment can be of great value in supporting cancer patients with regard to treatment decisions, psychosocial support, the experienced quality of life and symptom burden and any wishes they may have with regard to advanced care planning.

The Relationship Between Hope and Received Information About Cancer Among Women with Breast Cancer: A Descriptive-Correlational Study

“…Results showed that the mean score of hope had a significant relationship with educational level so that participants with university degrees had greater hope compared with illiterate participants. Two former studies also reported the same finding (22,33). This may be attributed to more access of highly educated people to information resources such as internet, books, magazines, and articles which can enhance a person's hope.…”

“…For example, some studies showed that patients' greater knowledge about cancer, its treatments, and its prognosis did no negatively affect their hope (20,21). Other studies revealed that knowledge and awareness about cancer can be associated with positive consequences (15,22). Contrarily, some studies showed that acquiring knowledge about cancer and its different aspects was associated with a stronger emotional reaction to the illness and hopelessness (13,23).…”

Relationship between hope and fatigue levels in cancer patients

“…Cancer patients suffer from limitations in prognosis and treatment. These limitations can often lead to the disappearance of the joy of life (3). In this study, there was no significant difference between mean fatigue scores and mean score of gender, age, marital, educational and employment status of the patients.…”

“…According to the World Cancer Report 2020, there were 19.3 million new cases and 10 million cancer-related deaths worldwide in 2020 (1). Cancer, a major health problem of modern medicine and human, is perceived as a serious and chronic illness, which causes fear, hopelessness, guilt, helplessness, unbearable pain, fatigue, abandonment, death and evokes the feeling and ideas of death, creates anxiety and chaos in patients and their families (2)(3)(4). Fatigue is the most common symptom in cancer patients.…”

Hope and symptom burden of women with breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy: A cross‐sectional study

“…This suggests that nurses should pay attention to improve patients' positive attitudes towards breast cancer and alleviate the negative thoughts during chemotherapy through psychological counselling. A systematic review showed that the hope measured by HHI is related to age, education level, marital status and religious support and has nothing to do with the type of cancer, treatment and cancer stage (Baalen et al, 2020). However, our study found that the cancer stage was significantly correlated with the level of hope.…”