Women cancer patients and parents of adolescent patients of the disease experience major downfall in psychological well-being, revealed the findings of an on-going research by the Institute Rotary Cancer Hospital (IRCH), All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) being conducted to study the psychological consequences of cancer, expert told The Pioneer on Friday.
"With the findings of the survey based study so far, we can say that women and parents of young patients face a downfall in their well-being. In these patients, traces of depression, anxiety and stress were major. This, in some patients, also manifested into severe headache and loss of appetite," said Dr Sachidanand Jee Bharti, Associate Professor, Department of Oncology-Anesthesia & Palliative Medicine, AIIMS.
In elderly patients, the symptoms such as depression, anxiety and stress are minimum, he added. According to Dr Bharti, the questionnaire of the survey consists of 30 questions to assess quality of life of patients as their main component. Questions related to appetite, food habits and happiness have also been included.
"We ask them if they have noticed any changes in their mood over a period of time. Questions related to the spirituality of the patients to assess the changes have also been included besides questions on physical pain," he said.
Dr Bharti further said, "This is a survey based study so we ask some questions from the cancer patients that are admitted to our hospital irrespective of the type or stage of cancer. The formula has been adopted from western countries but some changes in the questionnaire have been introduced to include spiritual aspect."
So far, the behavioural changes of around 600 patients over a period of 6 months have been studied, he added.
"It is a 14 month long study which includes studying the behavioural changes in around 1,200 patients of all ages and genders. Six months of the study are already over and around 600 patients admitted to our hospital have been studied," he said.
The full findings of the research are expected to be revealed in eight months.