The level of mindfulness and fear of recurrence in patients after radical gastrectomy for gastric cancer: the chain mediating effect of illness uncertainty and negative coping styles / 中国实用护理杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To explore the relationship between the level of mindfulness, illness uncertainty, negative coping style and fear of recurrence in patients after radical resection of gastric cancer, and to understand the internal mechanism of how mindfulness affects the fear of recurrence.Methods:This was a cross sectional survey. From January 2019 to March 2021, the convenience sampling method was used to select 227 patients undergoing radical gastric cancer surgery in the Affiliated Hospital of Naval Medial University of Chinese PLA as the research objects. The general information questionnaire, Mindfulness Attention and Awareness Scale, Fear of Disease Progression Simplified Scale, Mishel′s Illness Uncertainty Scale and Simplified Coping Style Questionnaire were used for questionnaire surveys. The relationship between the level of mindfulness, illness uncertainty, negative coping style and fear of recurrence was explored and the model was tested.Results:The returned questionnaires were 207 with a recovery rate of 91.19%(207/227). Pearson correlation analysis showed that the level of mindfulness was negatively correlated with illness uncertainty, negative coping style, and fear of recurrence ( r=-0.176, -0.269, -0.480, all P<0.01). Illness uncertainty, negative coping styles were positively correlated with fear of recurrence ( r=0.433, 0.420, both P<0.01). The mediation model test showed that mindfulness had a significant direct effect on fear of relapse (effect value was -0.220), illness uncertainty and negative coping styles had significant partial mediating effect between mindfulness level and fear of recurrence (effect value were -0.036, -0.030). And the chain mediating effect of illness uncertainty and negative coping style was also significant (effect value was -0.006). Conclusions:The level of mindfulness can not only have a direct impact on the fear of recurrence in patients after radical gastrectomy, but also indirectly affect the fear of recurrence through the chain mediating effect of illness uncertainty, negative coping style, and disease uncertainty→negative coping style.