Document Type : Original Article
Authors
- . K Vidhya
- . Sweety Gupta 1
- . R Lekshmi 1
- . Kritika Bhardwaj 1
- . K Kusum
- . Vasantha C Kalyani 2
- . Amit Gupta 3
1 Department of Radiation Oncology, AIIMS, Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, India
2 Department of Nursing, College of Nursing, AIIMS, Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, India
3 Department of Surgery, AIIMS, Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, India
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Knowledge about cancer, treatment, and likely treatment outcomes is critically
important for decision‑making regarding adherence to the treatment. Hence, it seems imperative to
find out the attitude and belief of cancer patients to determine the efficacy of cancer diagnostic and
treatment available along with assessing the efficacy of prevention. The purpose of this study was
to determine the level of knowledge, belief, and attitude of cancer patients who came to our facility.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: The present study was a descriptive cross‑sectional study which
was conducted at All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Rishikesh, from July 2020 to December
2020. One hundred fifty‑six newly diagnosed cancer patients were recruited. The participants were
provided with a validated 44 key questionnaire divided into four different categories including the
sociodemographic profile, knowledge, belief, and attitude subheading. Mean, frequency, percentage,
and Chi‑square test were calculated to do data analysis using SPSS version 23.0.
RESULTS: Out of the total of 156 newly diagnosed cancer patients, only 130 patients provided
responses so the overall response rate was 84.3%. Most of cancer patients had moderately adequate
knowledge (79 [60.5%]), poor belief (111 [86%]), and neutral attitude (69 [54%]) regarding cancer. The
Chi‑square test revealed a link between educational level and cancer knowledge (P = 0.01). Males
showed a more positive attitude than females, and this difference was statistically significant (P = 0.02).
CONCLUSIONS: Cancer patients need to be made more aware of the red flag signs of cancer
and improvise their attitude toward cancer. Cancer care programs should not only involve cancer
patients but also involve their caregivers because the understanding of family members is of utmost
importance to fight this disease.
Keywords
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