Lung cancer: Psychosocial implications

doi:10.1016/S0749-2081(87)80009-8

Seminars in Oncology Nursing

Volume 3, Issue 3, August 1987, Pages 222-227

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0749-2081(87)80009-8 Get rights and content

Summary

In summary, the literature on the psychosocial impact of lung cancer on the patient and family has been reviewed. While more information is available on the psychologic aspects of the diagnosis and treatment of the patient, there is a paucity of data about the impact on the family. Furthermore, no information was found regarding the impact of the rapidly increasing incidence of lung cancer among women. One can only hypothesize that an illness with such a short trajectory has a different impact than a longer chronic illness such as breast cancer. Perhaps some of the information about the impact of breast cancer pertains to women with lung cancer, but comparison studies are needed. Additionally, there is no information about the psychologic impact of the fact that smoking causes lung cancer. While one study found that over half of the lung cancer patients studied attributed the cause of their cancer to smoking or noxious fumes and chemicals,⁴⁶ no study was found that addressed the impact of this attribution on the patient's emotional status or interpersonal relationships with significant others. Based on this review it seems evident that the psychosocial impact of lung cancer is a fertile ground for further nursing research.

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Cited by (5)

Supportive care in lung cancer: Milestones over the past 40 years
2015, Journal of Thoracic Oncology
Citation Excerpt :
In 2005, Brown et al.42 examined the correlations among fatigue, systemic inflammatory response, and psychological distress and found that fatigue and poor physical function was more related to Karnofsky Performance status and psychological distress than weight loss and anemia. The inclusion of psychosocial support, support groups, counseling and pharmacological interventions for patients experiencing LC from diagnosis to end of life and curative treatment to palliative treatment has been supported by research in psychosocial implications of coping with LC.30,31,39,41,43 Despite evidence of the benefits of psychosocial care, however, the financial support has lagged behind the support for treatment-related research, something that needs to improve in the next decade.
The evolution of supportive care in lung cancer (LC) is the focus of this article, which aims to present an overall picture of the developments in the field, highlight milestones over the past four decades, and provide directions for future research and practice. Although in the 1970s this study was minimal, from the 1980s onwards, there was an expansion of the range of topics covered in the literature, reflecting the importance of supportive care to clinical practice. These areas include the identification of supportive care needs in LC, symptoms and symptom management, psychosocial aspects and coping with LC (including support of caregivers), quality of life issues and the development and testing of patient-reported outcomes, the option of best supportive care versus treatment, smoking cessation before and after diagnosis of LC, and service delivery models. This article celebrates the evolution of supportive LC care over the past 40 years alongside recognizing that more work needs to be done in the future and new research foci need to be developed to meet the current needs of patients with LC. The role and the continuous efforts of the International Association of the Study of Lung Cancer, including the sixteenth World Conference on Lung Cancer in 2015 to meet this goal, will be crucial and strategic in the future.
Perceptions of symptom distress in lung cancer patients: I. Congruence between patients and primary family caregivers
1997, Journal of Pain and Symptom Management
Part I of this two-part paper employs a comporative descriptive design to compare primary family caregivers assessments of lung cancer patients' symptom distress with patients and perceptions of symptom distress in the home setting. Part II describes the results of the qualitative component of this research. A convenience sample of 37 patient-family caregiver dyads completed the McCorkle and Young Symptom Distress Scale (SDS). Family caregivers global scores were moderately correlated with patients' global scores (r = 0.71; P < 0.001). No significant differences in ratings were found for ten the 13 symptoms assessed. Therefore, when the patient is unable to provide a self-report of symptom distress, health-care professionals may seriously consider family caregivers assessments of patients' symptom distress to be reasonable estimates for at least ten of the 13 symptoms on the SDS.
The lung cancer patient, the pneumologist and palliative care: A developing alliance
2015, European Respiratory Journal
The relationship between meaning of illness, social support, coping strategies, and quality of life for lung cancer patients and their family members
2006, Cancer Nursing
Symptom distresses and coping strategies in patients with non-small cell lung cancer
2002, Cancer Nursing

¹: From the Veterans Administration Medical Center, Newington, CT and Antioch/New England Graduate School, Keene, NH.

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Lung cancer: Psychosocial implications

Summary

Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys

Soc Sci Med

Nurs Clin North Am

Soc Sci Med

The existential plight in cancer: Significance of the first 100 days

Int J Psychiatry Med

Cancer statistics, 1986

CA

1986 Cancer Facts and Figures

Reappraisal of the present situation in prevention and control of lung cancer

Bull WHO

The incidence of carcinomatous neuromyopathy with special reference to carcinoma of the lung and breast

Oat cell carcinoma with hypercortisolemia presenting to a psychiatric hospital as a suicide attempt

J Nerv Ment Dis

Ectopic production of methionine endephalin and beta-endorphin

Br Med J

Neurological complications of systemic cancer

Med Clin North Am

Social consequences of brain or liver relapse in small cell carcinoma of the bronchus

Radiother Oncol

Intracranial metastases from systemic cancer

Adv Neurol

A Textbook of Neurology

Management of central nervous system metastases

Semin Oncol

Brain metastases: A clinician's view

Clinical manifestations of brain metastasis

Nursing assessment of the ambulatory patient with brain metastases

Cancer Nurs

Psychosocial morbidity in cancer: A clinical perspective

Cancer of the lung

Lung Cancer: Current concepts and prospects

CA

Shortness of breath

Br Med J