Health related stigma (HRS) is a poorly understood phenomenon in patients with advanced lung cancer. Approximately 30% of patients with lung cancer, regardless of smoking status, report feeling stigmatized due to their diagnosis and this may influence outcomes in these patients. Stigma has been linked to poor outcomes in other populations like HIV/AIDS. This is a cross-sectional descriptive study of patients with advanced lung cancer (N=62) that examines associations between internal and external HRS with physical symptoms, psychological symptoms, social support, and quality of life (QOL). In this study, 66.1% reported a smoking history and 33.9% reported feeling there is a stigma associated with lung cancer. External HRS was significantly correlated with distress, support from a main caregiver, general social support, physical, emotional, spiritual, intellectual and overall QOL. Internal HRS was significantly correlated with general social support, physical, emotional, intellectual, and overall QOL. Physical symptoms, depression, and anxiety were not significantly associated with any social support or QOL. Distress, however, was associated with physical, emotional, spiritual, intellectual and overall QOL. Results indicate that external HRS may be more influential on outcomes in patients with advanced lung cancer than internal HRS. Further research is needed to clarify the role of stigma in patients with lung cancer.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VANDERBILT/oai:VANDERBILTETD:etd-07142015-120634 |
| Date | 27 July 2015 |
| Creators | Jarrett, Lee Ann |
| Contributors | Dr. Sheila Ridner, Dr. Mary Dietrich, Dr. Leora Horn, Dr. Vaughn Sinclair, Nancy Wells |
| Publisher | VANDERBILT |
| Source Sets | Vanderbilt University Theses |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.vanderbilt.edu/available/etd-07142015-120634/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to Vanderbilt University or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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