Centre for Health Psychology
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Browsing Centre for Health Psychology by Supervisor "Padmaja, G"
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ItemEffect of cancer patients' activity level and psychosocial factors on caregivers' quality of life(University of Hyderabad, 2018-08-01) Vanlalhruaii, C ; Padmaja, GCancer as a disease affects the lives of millions across the globe. It is now clear that the cause of cancer is not due to one single event or factors but is multifactorial. In India, breast cancer is the most common cancer among women and is also the leading cause of death. Among men in India, lip, oral cavity cancer is the most common cancer. Head and neck cancer accounted for 30% of all cancers among males. The outcome of a cancer diagnosis can be atrocious. For patients diagnosed with breast cancer (BC) and head and neck cancer (HNC), the physical disfigurement as a result of the cancer treatment can be enormous. It can have a negative impact on the patients' psychological, physical, and social functioning. Cancer patients require assistance and caregiving at some point during their illness trajectory. The persons who assumes the role of caregiving are often family members who are underprepared for the task they need to carry out as caregivers. Hence, these family caregivers as a result of the physical and emotional assistance that they provide to their loved ones often experience negative psychological states (distress, depression, anxiety, and somatization). The upheavals may result in poor quality of life. During the cancer illness trajectory, interpersonal relationship which is open and supportive between patients and their caregivers plays an important role in reducing the negative psychological states and thus resulting in a good quality of life. The present study has the following objectives: 1) To assess the level of psychological states and perception of the interpersonal relationship among cancer patients (BC & HNC) and their family caregivers and assess the quality of life of family caregivers 2) To find out the differences in the levels of psychological states, interpersonal relationship, and quality of life among caregivers, categorized on the basis of patients’ activity levels 3) To find out the agreement or disagreement in perception of the interpersonal relationshipbetween cancer patients (BC & HNC) and their family caregivers 4) To find out indicators of family caregivers’ quality of life 5) To categorize family caregivers of cancer patients (BC & HNC) based on their levels of quality of life and to examine the differences in indicators of their quality of life. The study used between-groups design and included 248 pairs of cancer patients (breast cancer and head and neck cancer) and their family caregivers. Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance Status was administered to the patients. Cancer-Specific Interpersonal Relationship- Form A and Form B and The Four-dimensional Symptoms Questionnaire were administered to both patients and their caregivers. Caregivers' quality of life was assessed using Caregivers Quality of Life- Cancer. Data were analysed using IBM SPSS and MATLAB programming. The results of the present study showed that patients had a higher mean score in psychological states such as distress, depression, anxiety, somatization than their caregivers. However, patients perceived a higher overall interpersonal relationship between them and their caregivers. The result of one-way ANOVA showed significant differences in distress and mutual communication among the three groups of caregivers based on the patients' activity level. The result of feature analysis showed disagreement between patients and their caregivers in their perception of their interpersonal relationship. The result of the hierarchical regression analysis showed that demographic details, specific dimensions of psychological states, and the interpersonal relationship were the predictors of caregivers' quality of life. Based on their quality of life caregivers were categorized into three groups and significant differences were found on dimensions of interpersonal relationship and psychological states. The present study proposed a SMILE model to address the psychological needs, improvement in interpersonalrelationship and thus enhance the quality of life of both patients and their caregivers.Limitations of the study and future directions were also discussed in the study
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ItemStress, coping and quality of life in patients with cancer(University of Hyderabad, 2013-07-01) Vijaya Prasad, Barre ; Padmaja, GCancer is a demon which threatens the life of many both by its presence and likelihood of arrival in the present day world marked by stressful living. The main objectives of the proposed research were, to explore the level of stress, coping strategies, and quality of life of patients with cancer and to find out the relationship between the stress, coping strategies, quality of life, ECOGPS and the age of the patients with cancer pre- and post-medical intervention (Part A); to develop psychological intervention package based on Part A results; and to test the effectiveness of the developed package on a new sample of patients with cancer by measuring the same variables as in Part A, pre- and post-medical and psychological intervention (Part C). The study is a quasi-experimental design conducted in three parts. During the Part A, 105 patients and in Part C 30 patients with cancer between the ages of 28 - 65 years were included in the study with equal distribution of subjects from three types of cancer viz. lung, breast and head-neck-cancer in both Part A and Part C. The tools used were Questionnaire on Stress in Cancer Patients- Revised Version (QSC-R23) to measure stress level, Brief COPE for coping, European Organization for the Treatment and Research of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire-QLQ-C30, version 3.0 to assess the quality of life, during pre- and post- Medical Intervention Assessment (pre- and post-MIA) in Part A. A psychological intervention package was developed during Part B with psychoeducation, relaxation, and Cognitive Behaviour Therapy modules which were applied along with medical intervention in Part C. The impact of psychoeducation was measured using Cancer Information Scale, impact of relaxation by using Visual Analogue Scale and impact of cognitive behaviour therapy was measured by using Triple Column Technique pre- and post-MPIA inCancer is a demon which threatens the life of many both by its presence and likelihood of arrival in the present day world marked by stressful living. The main objectives of the proposed research were, to explore the level of stress, coping strategies, and quality of life of patients with cancer and to find out the relationship between the stress, coping strategies, quality of life, ECOGPS and the age of the patients with cancer pre- and post-medical intervention (Part A); to develop psychological intervention package based on Part A results; and to test the effectiveness of the developed package on a new sample of patients with cancer by measuring the same variables as in Part A, pre- and post-medical and psychological intervention (Part C). The study is a quasi-experimental design conducted in three parts. During the Part A, 105 patients and in Part C 30 patients with cancer between the ages of 28 - 65 years were included in the study with equal distribution of subjects from three types of cancer viz. lung, breast and head-neck-cancer in both Part A and Part C. The tools used were Questionnaire on Stress in Cancer Patients- Revised Version (QSC-R23) to measure stress level, Brief COPE for coping, European Organization for the Treatment and Research of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire-QLQ-C30, version 3.0 to assess the quality of life, during pre- and post- Medical Intervention Assessment (pre- and post-MIA) in Part A. A psychological intervention package was developed during Part B with psychoeducation, relaxation, and Cognitive Behaviour Therapy modules which were applied along with medical intervention in Part C. The impact of psychoeducation was measured using Cancer Information Scale, impact of relaxation by using Visual Analogue Scale and impact of cognitive behaviour therapy was measured by using Triple Column Technique pre- and post-MPIA inPart C. Again the tools to measure stress, coping and quality of life were used pre- and post- Medical and Psychological Intervention Assessment (pre- and post- MPIA). Statistical procedures used were descriptive statistics, paired and independent t test, Pearson r, Wilcoxon signed rank test (to measure the effect of relaxation) and ANCOVA (to find out whether treatment response of the patients varies according to the variation in intervention) with help of SPSS 16.0. The results indicated that the impact of medical and psychological intervention was clearly found on following parameters. There were differences in levels of stress, coping strategies and General Health Status/Quality of life (GHS/QoL) in functional and symptom scales during Part C i.e. pre- and post-medical and psychological intervention assessment. Whereas, no differences were found in GHS/QoL during Part A i.e. pre- and post-medical intervention assessment. Findings of part C indicated a change in myths and misconceptions, minimal changes in negative automatic thoughts and it was seen that the impact of relaxation was felt by the patients. These significantly seemed to have helped to significantly show the difference viz. reduce stress, fostering coping strategies and enhancing their quality of life when used alongside medical intervention. The psychological intervention when combined with medical intervention showed better results. This signifies the effectiveness of psychological intervention for the patients with LC, BC and HNC. Findings of the present study indicated that there is a wide scope/ importance of psychological intervention alongside medical intervention in the field of psychooncology. Limitations of the study and implications are also discussed