Assessment of the coping strategies among cervical cancer patients in Sangli, Miraj and Kupwad area and also to develop a self-instruction module

Abstract

Cancer is a stressful journey. Feelings of sadness, fear, and anger are normal. A patient's feelings might change from moment to moment and day to day. Practicing ways to cope with stress keep feelings more level and hopeful. The main aim of the present study was to assess the coping strategies among cervical cancer clients in Sangli, Miraj and Kupwad area. The setting for the study was in Shri Siddhivinayk Ganpati Cancer hospital Miraj and Civil hospital, Sangli. The scope of study was limited to chronically ill patients with cancer of cervix. Administration check list and open ended questions were used as an appropriate and effective method to identify coping strategies adopted by clients having cancer of cervix undergoing therapies. In the present study, it was observed that there was no significant association between selected demographic variables and coping strategies of cervical cancer clients in relation to variables age, education, number of family members, marital status, receiving treatment and duration of treatment, the chi-square value obtained was 0.287, 0.109, 1, 0.734, 1, and 0.736 respectively. In relation to variables occupation and monthly family income, chi-square and fresher’s exact test value obtained was 0.006 and 0.021 respectively, which showed significance at P<0.05 level. Majority of the patients' coping strategies were in emotional problems followed by physical problems. None of the patients' coping strategies based on problems was up to 100% in regards to this the investigator prefer to make self-instructional module while highlighting the problems observed.