Impact of perceived social support on the mental health and health‐related quality of life in cancer patients: results from a nationwide, multicenter survey in South Korea

Abstract

Objective We investigated whether and how perceived social support is associated with depression and quality of life among patients with various cancer diagnoses. Methods Data were collected from 1930 cancer patients treated at the National Cancer Center and nine regional cancer centers across Korea. The Duke‐UNC functional social support scale was used to measure the perceived social support, and the PHQ‐9 and the EORTC QLQ‐C30 were used to measure the cancer patients' depression levels and quality of life, respectively. Results Subjects with low perceived social support reported significantly higher levels of depression, lower scores on all functional scales, higher scores on all three symptom scales, lower global health/quality of life scale scores, and higher scores on most single items than subjects with high perceived social support. There was no interaction between potential stressors and perceived social support, supporting the main effect model as the mechanism that the perceived social support reduce the adverse psychological outcomes. Conclusion Perceived social support was associated with mental health and quality of life in cancer patients, through direct effect rather than stress‐buffering effect. Interventions to enhance perceived social support might be helpful for improving mental health and QOL in cancer patients. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Role of the family, friends and significant others in providing social support and enhancing quality of life in cancer patients

“…In study carried by Eom et al [13], perceived social support was found to be associated with mental health and QOL; specifically, low perceived social support was associated with low QOL in this study. This result was consistent with previous studies that showed that higher perceived social support was associated with a higher QOL [16;17].…”

“…that patients recover after treatment, supportive attitudes may weaken after primary treatment [13]. Those with more years since diagnosis trended toward lower perceived social support in this study.…”

Social support and quality of life in a group of cancer patients (Ankara, Turkey)*

“…Subjects (n = 1930) with low perceived social support reported significantly higher levels of depression, lower scores on all functional scales, and lower global health quality of life scale scores in a nationwide study. Researchers concluded that cancer patients' perceived social support was directly associated with mental health and the quality of life in cancer patients, rather than having a "stress-buffering" effect (16).…”

Asociación entre rumiaciones y malestar emocional en pacientes recién diagnosticados de cáncer

“…El apoyo social, de acuerdo con la literatura previa (26,27) , se asocia con los niveles de ansiedad y depresión, aunque no alcanza la significación en los modelos multivariados.…”

“…El apoyo social es una variable determinante en la adaptación al cáncer (26,27) y por ello se hace necesario controlar su efecto. Dicha variable se ha evaluado mediante el cuestionario MOS de apoyo social (28) (MOS Social Support Survey; MOS-SSS).…”