The influence of demographic and clinical variables on perceived social support in cancer patients

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate how socio-demographic and clinical variables were related to the different dimensions of perceived social support in cancer patients receiving oncology treatment. The sample included 740 cancer out-patients. Socio-demographic and clinical predictors showed lower levels of variance in each dimension of social support. Patients reported less perceived instrumental support at a longer duration since diagnosis. Women perceived less instrumental support than men (p < 0.01). Also, significant group differences were observed for patients who were married compared with non partnered. Patients with personal psychiatric antecedents compared with non psychiatric antecedent, perceived significantly less Emotional/Informational (p < 0.01) and Affective support (p < 0.01), in addition to lower scores in overall index of social support (p < 0.01). The findings pointed that, assessing socio-demographic and illness-related characteristics of cancer patients can allow us a better understanding of the differences of perceived social support.