ABSTRACT
@#Introduction: Cancer patients’ perception on the treatment they received is vital to determine their adherence to cancer treatment, but important data on how this variable affects posttraumatic growth (PTG) experience by cancer patients is lacking. This cross-sectional study aimed to evaluate the degree of PTG among a cohort of head and neck cancer (HNC) survivors who were within first year of diagnosis and determined the association between perception of cancer treatment received (expectation and satisfaction with cancer treatment received and the feeling about the adverse effects) and PTG controlling for socio-demographic and clinical characteristics. Methods: HNC survivors were recruited from two oncology referral centres, and they were administered socio-demographic and clinical characteristics questionnaire, the Malay version of the Cancer Therapy Satisfaction Questionnaire (CTSQ) (to assess the satisfaction, expectation and feeling about the adverse effects of cancer treatment received) and the Malay version of the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory-Short Form (PTGi-SF) (to measure the degree of PTG). Results: A total of 200 HNC survivors participated in the study. The mean total PTGI-SF score was 39.5 (standard deviation [SD] = 9.3). Greater degree of positive expectation of cancer treatment and satisfaction with cancer treatment received significantly contributed to higher level of PTG, whereas feeling about side effects of treatment was not associated with PTG, after controlling for socio-demographic and clinical characteristics. Conclusion: Incorporating psychosocial interventions (such as education on cancer treatment and counselling) into the treatment regimen may facilitate development of PTG and hence, safeguard the mental well-being of HNC patients.
ABSTRACT
@#Introduction: Fear of cancer progression may lead to worsening of psychological complications of cancer and affects the quality of life of cancer patients. Hence, fear of cancer progression needs to be monitored. This study translated the original English version of the Fear of Progression Questionnaire-Short Form (FoP-Q-SF) into the Malay language and investigated the reliability and validity of the Malay version of the FoP-Q-SF (FoP-Q-SF-M) among Malaysian cancer patients. Methods: Concurrent translation and back translation of the English version of the FoP-Q-SF to the FoP-Q-SF-M was performed, and the FoP-Q-SF-M and the Malay version of the Cancer Therapy Satisfaction Questionnaire (CTSQ-M) (as a comparison to assess the discriminant validity of the FoP-Q-SF-M) were administered to 200 cancer patients with different sites, stages, and duration of cancer diagnosis. Results: The CTSQ-M exhibited excellent internal consistency (Cronbach’s α= 0.927) as well as demonstrated good convergent and discriminant validity. Exploratory factor analysis of the FoP-Q-SF-M extracted one factor with twelfth items, thereby this supports the single-factor model reported by the English version of the FoP-Q-SF. Conclusion: The FoP-Q-SF-M exhibited acceptable psychometric properties and valid for use to assess fear of cancer progression in the Malaysian cancer population.