ABSTRACT
Objective To explore the self-disclosure characteristics of gynecologic cancer patients,and compare psychological distress of each latent class.Methods A total of 177 gynecologic cancer patients from 8 tertiary hospitals were investigated by demographic questionnaire,the Distress Disclosure Index (DDI) and the Distress Thermometer (DT).Results The result showed that 3 latent classes model of self-disclosure was supported,including" High level-willing to disclosure to various people" (39.55％)," Medium level-willing to disclosure to spouse" (20.90％) and " Low level-not willing to disclosure to anyone" (39.55％).Significant differences were found in the effect of residence (x2 =9.341,P＜0.05),education level (x2=16.862,P＜0.05) and cancer type(P=0.009) on the latent class among these groups.Moreover,the psychological distress scores of the 3 latent classes were 6.61± 1.78,4.59± 1.57 and 3.67± 1.14,and the differences were statistically significant (x2 =83.56,P＜0.05).Conclusion The self-disclosure of gynecological cancer patients can be divided into three classes and their psychological distress is different.So the specific intervention methods can be developed to improve the level of self-disclosure and psychological distress of gynecological cancer patients.