Cancer Patients' Social Relationships During 3 Years After Diagnosis-Generic and Cancer-Specific Social Networks
Lehto, Ulla-Sisko; Ojanen, Markku; Lääperi, Silja; Kohonen, Mira; Härkänen, Tommi; Honkalampi, Kirsi; Turpeenniemi-Hujanen, Taina (2024-06-25)
Springer
25.06.2024
Lehto, US., Ojanen, M., Lääperi, S. et al. Cancer Patients’ Social Relationships During 3 Years After Diagnosis—Generic and Cancer-Specific Social Networks. Int.J. Behav. Med. 32, 325–340 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12529-024-10292-4
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© The Author(s) 2024. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
© The Author(s) 2024. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:oulu-202406274982
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:oulu-202406274982
Tiivistelmä
Abstract
Background:
Social relationships are important health resources and may be investigated as social networks. We measured cancer patients’ social subnetworks divided into generic social networks (people known to the patients) and disease-specific social networks (the persons talked to about the cancer) during 3 years after diagnosis.
Method:
Newly diagnosed patients with localized breast cancer (n = 222), lymphoma (n = 102), and prostate cancer (n = 141) completed a questionnaire on their social subnetworks at 2–5 months after diagnosis and 9, 18, and 36 months thereafter. Generic and cancer-specific numbers of persons of spouse/partner; other family; close relatives, in detail; and friends were recorded as well as cancer-specific numbers of persons in acquaintances; others with cancer; work community; healthcare professionals; and religious, hobby, and civic participation. The data was analyzed with regression models.
Results:
At study entry, most patients had a spouse/partner, all had close relatives (the younger, more often parents; and the older, more often adult children with families) and most also friends. The cancer was typically discussed with them, and often with acquaintances and other patients (74–86%). Only minor usually decreasing time trends were seen. However, the numbers of distant relatives and friends were found to strongly increase by the 9-month evaluation (P < 0.001).
Conclusion:
Cancer patients have multiple social relationships and usually talk to them about their cancer soon after diagnosis. Most temporal changes are due to the natural course of life cycle. The cancer widened the patients’ social networks by including other patients and healthcare professionals and by an increased number of relatives and friends.
Background:
Social relationships are important health resources and may be investigated as social networks. We measured cancer patients’ social subnetworks divided into generic social networks (people known to the patients) and disease-specific social networks (the persons talked to about the cancer) during 3 years after diagnosis.
Method:
Newly diagnosed patients with localized breast cancer (n = 222), lymphoma (n = 102), and prostate cancer (n = 141) completed a questionnaire on their social subnetworks at 2–5 months after diagnosis and 9, 18, and 36 months thereafter. Generic and cancer-specific numbers of persons of spouse/partner; other family; close relatives, in detail; and friends were recorded as well as cancer-specific numbers of persons in acquaintances; others with cancer; work community; healthcare professionals; and religious, hobby, and civic participation. The data was analyzed with regression models.
Results:
At study entry, most patients had a spouse/partner, all had close relatives (the younger, more often parents; and the older, more often adult children with families) and most also friends. The cancer was typically discussed with them, and often with acquaintances and other patients (74–86%). Only minor usually decreasing time trends were seen. However, the numbers of distant relatives and friends were found to strongly increase by the 9-month evaluation (P < 0.001).
Conclusion:
Cancer patients have multiple social relationships and usually talk to them about their cancer soon after diagnosis. Most temporal changes are due to the natural course of life cycle. The cancer widened the patients’ social networks by including other patients and healthcare professionals and by an increased number of relatives and friends.
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