Changes in daily activities of cancer patients after diagnosis: how do canadian and Iranian patients perceive the change?

ABSTRACT

Being diagnosed with cancer has major impacts on a patient's life. This study was conducted to explore how specific daily activities of patients change as a result of cancer diagnosis or its treatment and how these patients feel about such changes. This was a cross-sectional descriptive study. Cancer patients referred to our clinics and by completing a questionnaire, they reported their daily activities and how they changed after diagnosis. A total of 201 patients in Canada and 167 patients in Iran completed the questionnaire. The research setting was the outpatient cancer clinics of the Jewish General Hospital in Montreal, Canada [February to April 2008] and Imam Reza Hospital and Ghaem Hospital in Mashhad, Iran [March to August 2008]. More than 40 percent of the patients reported changes after the diagnosis in at least 8 out of 22 daily activities listed in the questionnaire. While a negative perception towards the changes was more common, some patients also perceived some changes as positive. More than half of the participants [56.9%] who were employed at the time of diagnosis experienced changes in the amount or type of their paid work after being diagnosed with cancer. The impact of a cancer diagnosis and treatment on a patient's daily activities is drastic. There is a need to provide support and interventions to help patients maintain daily activities they need and/or like. Further studies are needed to better understand the nature of such interventions: