RATIONALE: Gathering information about psychological and social adjustment after radiation therapy in patients with cancer may help doctors plan the best treatment. PURPOSE: This clinical trial is studying psychosocial adjustment after radiation therapy in patients with breast cancer, colorectal cancer, lung cancer, or prostate cancer.
OBJECTIVES: * To describe psychosocial adjustment after radiotherapy in patients with stage I, II, or III breast, colorectal, lung, or prostate cancer. * To determine if cognitive appraisal of health predicts psychosocial adjustment of these patients after radiotherapy. * To examine whether social support moderates the relationship between cognitive appraisal of health and psychosocial adjustment of these patients after radiotherapy. * To examine whether self-efficacy for coping with cancer moderates the relationship between cognitive appraisal of health and psychosocial adjustment of these patients after radiotherapy. * To measure the effect of symptom distress, uncertainty, medical factors, and personal factors on cognitive appraisal of health of these patients before ending radiotherapy. OUTLINE: Two weeks before completing planned radiotherapy, patients undergo assessment of stress appraisal and other factors predictive of post-radiotherapy psychosocial adjustment. Patients complete psychosocial assessments, including measures of patient perceptions of their illness (i.e., cognitive appraisal) and of the factors influencing their perceptions (i.e., uncertainty by the Mishel Uncertainty in Illness Scale-Community Form; symptom distress by the Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale Short Form; and comorbidity by the Charlson Comorbidity Index). Measures of patient social support and self-efficacy for coping are also assessed. At 1 month after completion of radiotherapy, patients undergo repeat assessment of stress appraisal and psychosocial adjustment.
Study Type
OBSERVATIONAL
Enrollment
80
Two weeks before completing planned radiotherapy, patients undergo assessment of stress appraisal and other factors predictive of post-radiotherapy psychosocial adjustment. At 1 month after completion of radiotherapy, patients undergo repeat assessment of stress appraisal and psychosocial adjustment.
Patients complete psychosocial assessments, including measures of patient perceptions of their illness (i.e., cognitive appraisal) and of the factors influencing their perceptions (i.e., uncertainty by the Mishel Uncertainty in Illness Scale-Community Form; symptom distress by the Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale Short Form; and comorbidity by the Charlson Comorbidity Index).
Patients complete psychosocial assessments, including measures of patient perceptions of their illness (i.e., cognitive appraisal) and of the factors influencing their perceptions (i.e., uncertainty by the Mishel Uncertainty in Illness Scale-Community Form; symptom distress by the Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale Short Form; and comorbidity by the Charlson Comorbidity Index).
At 1 month after completion of radiotherapy, patients undergo repeat assessment of stress appraisal and psychosocial adjustment.
Case Medical Center, University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center, Case Comprehensive Cancer Center
Cleveland, Ohio, United States
Relationship between stress appraisal (as assessed by CAHS at baseline) and psychosocial adjustment (as assessed by PAIS-SR at 1 month after radiotherapy)
Time frame: one month after radiotherapy
Relationship between stress appraisal and uncertainty, symptom distress, cancer stage, comorbidities, age, gender, race/ethnicity, and education at 2 weeks prior to completing radiotherapy
Time frame: 2 weeks prior to radiotherapy
Social support (as assessed by MOS-SSS) and self-efficacy (as assessed by CBI-L v2.0) as moderators of the relationship between cognitive appraisal and adjustment
Time frame: At 1 month after completion of radiotherapy
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