Journal of Education and Health Promotion

Evaluation of body image in cancer patients and its association with clinical variables

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

. Masoud Bahrami
. Marjan Mohamadirizi 1
. Shahla Mohamadirizi 2
. Seyyed Abbas Hosseini

1 Department of Management, Dehaghan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Dehaghan, Iran

2 Nursing and Midwifery Care Research Center, Faculity of Nursing and Midwifery, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran,

Abstract
BACKGROUND: Cancer and its treatments have been shown to have a negative psychological
effect on many cancer patients. One of these effects is often described as body image disturbance.
Due to the limited number of studies in this area, this study was performed to assess body image in
cancer patients and its association with clinical variables.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a descriptive and correlational research that was designed
in Sayyed‑Al‑Shohda Hospital affiliated to Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Iran in 2013. Two
hundred and ten adult patients who had been suffering from cancer were selected and completed
the personal/demographic/illness questionnaire and the multi‑dimensional body‑self relations
questionnaire that contained 64‑items with appearance orientation, appearance evaluation, fitness
evaluation, fitness orientation, health evaluation, health orientation, illness orientation, body areas
satisfaction, self‑classified weight and overweight preoccupation sub‑scales. Data were analyzed
by ANOVA and Pearson correlation with a significance level of P < 0.05.
RESULTS: The mean (standard deviation (scores of body image in cancer patients was 184.40 (43.68)
indicating that 58.3% of them had negative body image. In addition, most of patients had negative health
evaluation (60.2%), negative appearance evaluation(63%), negative illness orientation(61%), and negative
fitness orientation(56%). Furthermore, there were no significant correlations between type of cancer (P=0.5,
f = 0.3), kind of treatment (P = 0.8, f = 5.2) and duration of illness with body image (P = 0.6, r = −0.2).
CONCLUSION: In this study most of the cancer patients had body image disturbances. Also, body image in
this group wasn’t associated with the type of cancer, kind of treatment and duration of illness. Totally, these
results underscore the importance of assessing and treating body image disturbance in cancer patients.

Keywords

Body image
cancer
health
nursing
1. Gleeson K, Frith H. (De) constructing body image. J Health
Psychol 2006;11:79‑90.
2. Bukovic D, Silovski H, Silovski T, Hojsak I, Sakic K. Sexual
functioning and body image of patients treated for ovarian cancer.
Sex Disabil 2008;26:63‑73.
3. Noghani F, Monjamed Z, Bahrani N and Ghodrati Jablo V. The
comparison of self‑esteem between male and female cancer
patients. hayat. 2006; 12(2):33‑41.
4. Fan SY, Eiser C. Body image of children and adolescents with
cancer: A systematic review. Body Image 2009;6:247‑56.
5. Bahrami M. Do nurses provide holistic care to cancer patients?
Iran J Nurs Midwifery Res 2010;15:245‑51.
6. Gehrman CA, Hovell MF, Sallis JF, Keating K. The effects
of a physical activity and nutrition intervention on body
dissatisfaction, drive for thinness, and weight concerns in
pre‑adolescents. Body Image 2006;3:345‑51.
7. Fobair P, Stewart SL, Chang S, D’Onofrio C, Banks PJ, Bloom JR.
Body image and sexual problems in young women with breast
cancer. Psychooncology 2006;15:579‑94.
8. Harrington JM, Badger TA. Body image and quality of life in men
with prostate cancer. Cancer Nurs 2009;32:E1‑7.
9. Kelly MM, Walters C, Phillips KA. Social anxiety and its
relationship to functional impairment in body dysmorphic
disorder. Behav Ther 2010;41:143‑53.
10. Peeters CA. Body Image Concerns in Men with Localized Prostate
Cancer. [PhD Dissertation]. Canada: University of Ottawa; 2009.
11. Chen CL, Liao MN, Chen SC, Chan PL, Chen SC. Body image and
its predictors in breast cancer patients receiving surgery. Cancer
Nurs 2012;35:E10‑6.
12. Gupta BA, Yaduvanshi R, Trivedi JK, Nischal A. A comparativestudy of body image and coping style in breast cancer patients
Department of Psychiatry. Delhi Psychiatry J 2012;15:178‑82.
13. Hosseini SA, Bahrami M, Mohamadirizi SH, Paknahad Z,
Investigation of eating disorders in cancer patients and its
relevance with body image, iran j nurs midvifery res 2015.20 (3)
39‑45.
14. Conboy Croff R. Development of a Cancer Specific Body‑Image
Instrument, Drexel University, PHDThesis; 2005. Available from:
https://idea.library.drexel.edu/islandora/object/idea%3A476.
15. Parizad H, Abadi HH, Mashhadi A, Kermani AT. comparison of
the effectiveness of group therapy and group therapy reality in
body image in women receiving mastectomy. The Iranian Journal
of Obstetrics, Gynecology And Infertility 2012; 15 (22): 27‑35.
16. Fingeret MC, Vidrine DJ, Reece GP, Gillenwater AM, Gritz ER.
Multidimensional analysis of body image concerns among
newly diagnosed patients with oral cavity cancer. Head & neck.
2010 Mar 1;32 (3):301‑9.
17. Rezayi R, Hejazi SH, Shah N, Azariyan ZH, Mahmodi M. The
comparisons of body image in hemodialiysis patients and patients
receiving kidney transplantation. Payesh Mag 2009;8:279‑87.
18. Macmillan Cancer Support, February 2013. 2nd edition.MAC14192.
Next planned review 2015. Macmillan Cancer Support, registered
charity in England and Wales (261017), Scotland (SC039907) and
the Isle of Man (604).
19. Przezdziecki A, Sherman KA, Baillie A, Taylor A, Foley E,
Stalgis-Bilinski K. My changed body: Breast cancer, body
image, distress and self-compassion. PsychoOncology.
2013 Aug 1;22 (8):1872‑9.
Journal of Education and Health Promotion
Volume 7, Issue 5
September and October 2017
Pages 1-5

Home

Guide for Authors

Submit Manuscript

Reviewers

Contact Us