Observational Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2021. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Jun 16, 2021; 9(17): 4188-4198
Published online Jun 16, 2021. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v9.i17.4188
Self-perceived burden and influencing factors in patients with cervical cancer administered with radiotherapy
Ting Luo, Rong-Zhi Xie, Yan-Xia Huang, Xiao-Hua Gong, Hui-Ying Qin, Yi-Xiao Wu
Ting Luo, Rong-Zhi Xie, Xiao-Hua Gong, Cancer Center, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Zhuhai 519000, Guangdong Province, China
Yan-Xia Huang, Cardiovascular Disease Center, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Zhuhai 519000, Guangdong Province, China
Hui-Ying Qin, Nursing Department, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou 510060, Guangdong Province, China
Yi-Xiao Wu, Power Operation Department, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Zhuhai 519000, Guangdong Province, China
Author contributions: Xie RZ and Gong XH contributed to the conception and design of this study; Luo T, Huang YX, and Wu YX performed the statistical analysis and drafted the manuscript; Qin HY critically reviewed the manuscript and supervised the whole study process; all authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Sun Yat-Sen University.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest to report.
Data sharing statement: The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement-checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement-checklist of items.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Hui-Ying Qin, MS, Doctor, Nursing Department, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, No. 651 Dongfeng East Road, Guangzhou 510060, Guangdong Province, China. qinhy@sysucc.org.cn
Received: January 25, 2021
Peer-review started: January 25, 2021
First decision: February 25, 2021
Revised: March 10, 2021
Accepted: April 8, 2021
Article in press: April 8, 2021
Published online: June 16, 2021
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Cervical cancer is the fourth commonest malignancy in women around the world. It represents the second most commonly diagnosed cancer in South East Asian women, and an important cancer death cause in women of developing nations. Data collected in 2018 revealed 5690000 cervical cancer cases worldwide, 85% of which occurred in developing countries.

AIM

To assess self-perceived burden (SPB) and related influencing factors in cervical cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy.

METHODS

Patients were prospectively included by convenient sampling at The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, China between March 2018 and March 2019. The survey was completed using a self-designed general information questionnaire, the SPB scale for cancer patients, and the self-care self-efficacy scale, Strategies Used by People to Promote Health, which were delivered to patients with cervical cancer undergoing radiotherapy. Measurement data are expressed as the mean ± SD. Enumeration data are expressed as frequencies or percentages. Caregivers were the spouse, offspring, and other in 46.4, 40.9, and 12.7%, respectively, and the majority were male (59.1%). As for pathological type, 90 and 20 cases had squamous and adenocarcinoma/adenosquamous carcinomas, respectively. Stage IV disease was found in 12 (10.9%) patients.

RESULTS

A total of 115 questionnaires were released, and five patients were excluded for too long evaluation time (n = 2) and the inability to confirm the questionnaire contents (n = 3). Finally, a total of 110 questionnaires were collected. They were aged 31-79 years, with the 40-59 age group being most represented (65.4% of all cases). Most patients were married (91.8%) and an overwhelming number had no religion (92.7%). Total SPB score was 43.13 ± 16.65. SPB was associated with the place of residence, monthly family income, payment method, transfer status, the presence of radiotherapy complications, and the presence of pain (P < 0.05). The SPB and self-care self-efficacy were negatively correlated (P < 0.01). In multivariate analysis, self-care self-efficacy, place of residence, monthly family income, payment method, degree of radiation dermatitis, and radiation proctitis were influencing factors of SPB (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

Patients with cervical cancer undergoing radiotherapy often have SPB. Self-care self-efficacy scale, place of residence, monthly family income, payment method, and radiation dermatitis and proctitis are factors independently influencing SPB.

Keywords: Cervical cancer, Radiotherapy, Self-perceived burden, Influencing factors, Self-perceived burden, Prospective research

Core Tip: Cervical cancer is the fourth commonest malignancy in women around the world. The present study aimed to assess self-perceived burden (SPB) and related influencing factors in cervical cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy. The survey was completed using a self-designed general information questionnaire, the SPB scale for cancer patients, and the self-care self-efficacy scale, Strategies Used by People to Promote Health. The results suggested that patients with cervical cancer undergoing radiotherapy often have SPB. Self-care self-efficacy scale, place of residence, monthly family income, payment method, and radiation dermatitis and proctitis are factors independently influencing SPB.