The Relationship Between Loneliness and Perceived Social Support Levels in Oncology Patients

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: This research is performed to determine the relationship between loneliness and social support levels in patients treated in oncology clinics. METHODS: It was conducted by face-to-face interviews with 121 patients aged between 18-65 who were treated with cancer diagnosis in oncology clinics between 2014 and 2015. A questionnaire including sociodemographic characteristics, Multidimensional Perceived Social Support Scale and UCLA Loneliness Scale were used to collect the data. In the evaluation of the data, Independent Sample t-Test, Directional Variance Analysis, and Pearson Correlation Analysis were used together with descriptive analyzes. RESULTS: In the study, it was observed that individuals with extended families had higher loneliness scores and decreased loneliness as the number of children increased. It was determined that loneliness decreased as the level of education increased. There is a moderate and significant negative correlation with "Perceived Friend Support" (r = -0.639; p = 0.000) and a negative moderate and significant relationship with the total score of "Perceived Total Support" (r = -0.585; p = 0.000) ) was determined to be. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: It is observed that the perceived social support decreases as the level of loneliness increases. It was observed that the special human support and total social support perceived by the patients between the ages of 18-29 were higher than the patients in other age groups. The socio-demographic characteristics of cancer patients such as age, gender, economic status, cultural characteristics and the way they perceive the disease, their state of being alone should be determined, and social support should be provided accordingly.

Keywords

• cancer
• social support
• loneliness