THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN AGE, EDUCATION, UNCERTAINTY IN ILLNESS, SENSE OF COHERENCE, SOCIAL SUPPORT AND ADAPTATION IN BREAST CANCER PATIENTS RECEIVING CHEMOTHERAPY
Abstract:
The purpose of this research was to investigate the relationships between age, education, uncertainty in illness, sense of coherence, social support and adaptation in breast cancer patients receiving chemotherapy. One hundred and twenty five of breast cancer patients were recruited by using a simple sampling technique. The instruments used for data collection were the demographic questionnaires, Mischels Uncertainty in illness Scale: Community Form, sense of coherence, social support and adaptation in illness questionnaires. These instruments were tested for their content validity by a panel of experts. Internal consistency reliability for each questionnaire tested by Cronbachs alpha were .85, .87, .83 and .72 respectively. Data was analyzed by using mean, standard deviation and Pearsons production-moment correlation and Stepwise multiple regressions.The study findings revealed that 1. Patients with breast cancer had moderate level of adaptation in illness.2. Age and uncertainty in illness were negatively significant correlated to adaptation in breast cancer patients receiving chemotherapy. (r = -.248 and -.404, p