Adjustment ability and associated factors of outpatients living with cancer.
Keiko Hirokawa, Shizue Suzuki
PMID 30918691WHAT IT FOUND
Outpatients with cancer who believed they should accept help for things they cannot do themselves had higher adjustment ability.
This belief was the strongest factor linked to better coping, ahead of age, role recognition, or the number of supporters.
Key findings
01Believing that one should be supported by others for tasks they cannot do themselves was the single strongest factor associated with higher adjustment ability in outpatients with cancer.
02Patients with higher adjustment ability scores reported significantly better quality of life than those with lower scores.
03Having more types of people providing mental support was associated with higher adjustment ability, particularly for patients facing many physical and daily life difficulties.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study is cross-sectional, so it cannot prove that believing in accepting support causes higher adjustment ability. It only shows an association. The response rate was 54.5%, and 40 responses were excluded for missing data, which may introduce selection bias if those who did not respond or were excluded differed from the final group. The definition of 'low' versus 'high' adjustment ability relied on cut-off scores that were adjusted during analysis, and the finding of significance disappeared when the cut-off was lowered slightly, suggesting the result is sensitive to how groups are defined. Participants were outpatients who had completed primary treatment, so the findings may not apply to patients currently undergoing intensive treatment or those with advanced disease.
Declared interests
The authors have no funding or conflict of interests to disclose.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that encouraging patients to accept help will directly improve their quality of life. The study shows an association between the belief that one should accept help and higher adjustment ability scores, but it does not demonstrate that changing this belief causes the improvement.