Traumatic Cognitions of Oncology Patients and Their Assumptions Regarding The World

Abstract

OBJECTIVE The present study aims to determine the traumatic cognition of oncology patients and their assumptions about the world and the influencing factors. METHODS This study is a descriptive and correlation-seeking study that was conducted between May 2016 and January 2017 on 249 oncology patients. The data were collected using the Personal Information Form, Post-Traumatic Cognitions Scale (PTCS) and World Assumptions Scale (WAS). RESULTS About 34% of the participants are between the ages of 55 and 65, and 33% have acute/chronic leukemia. The highest score from the PTCS scale was obtained from breast-lung cancer patients with a mean of 158.61 +/- 36.65. A statistically significant difference was found between the diagnoses of the participants and the mean scores of the PTCS total, all subscales of PTCS, and the subscales of WAS regarding belief in personal luck, belief in the goodness of the world, and belief that the world is fair (p<0.05). The WAS and the PTCS had a moderate negative correlation (r=-0.565). CONCLUSION The high traumatic cognition of oncology patients, regardless of the diagnosis, indicates that cancer is a traumatic disease. Increasing cancer patients' assumptions about the world decrease traumatic cognitions.