FACTORS RELATED TO STIGMA AMONG PATIENTS WITH CERVICAL CANCER HAVING CHEMOTHERAPY AFTER SURGERY

Abstract

Stigma is a complex issue involving many disciplines, nurses in particular and have a profound effect in patients with cancer. The purposes of this study were to describe stigma and determine its relationship with self-efficacy, self-esteem, illness perception, social support, and stigma among patients with cervical cancer at postoperative chemotherapy in Wenzhou, China. The identity-threat model of stigma was served as the study conceptual framework. A total of 132 participants were recruited from the gynecology inpatient and outpatient departments of the First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University using a random sampling technique. Research instruments included: 1) Demographic questionnaire, 2) Social Impact Scale (SIS), 3) General Self Efficacy Scale (GSES), 4) Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES), 5) Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (BIPQ), 6) The Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS). The scales (no.2-6) yielded reliabilities with the Cronbach’s alpha of .900, .895, .883, .896, and .859, respectively. Data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics and Spearman's rank correlation.

The results of this study showed that the mean score of stigma was 76.3 (SD=10.84), which can be classified as a severe level. The Spearman's rank correlation coefficient analysis revealed the self-efficacy, self-esteem, illness perception, social support were all negatively correlated with stigma (r = -.085, r = -.158, r = -.254, r = -.238, respectively), with p value

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