Title: A vital analysis of factors affecting QoL of cancer patients in Uttar Pradesh through structural equation modelling approach

Authors: Alpana Srivastava; Sandeep Tiwari; Gyan Chandra

Addresses: Amity Business School, Amity University, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India ' Department of Trauma Surgery, King George Medical University, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India ' Endocrine Surgery, Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGI), Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India

Abstract: Assessing quality of life (QoL) in cancer patients is prime concern for oncological research and treatment at every stage of the disease. QoL in India is not a chief concern in the healthcare sector; it is blatantly substandard amongst cancer patients and need attention. This paper aims to evaluate the factors affecting QoL in cancer patients through Structural Equation Models. A sample size of 300 cancer patients from three tertiary care hospitals in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, was assessed using the Ferrell QoL questionnaire, comprising four domains. The average quality of life was below 0.5 at the first stage, increasing minutely to 0.6 in the follow-up stage. Analysis has led to the emergence of factors like fear of future tests (R27), second cancer (R28), reoccurrence (R29) and spreading (R30). These factors affected QoL by 31%, leading to the occurrence of fear psychosis, requiring counselling from family, friends, and a professional counsellor.

Keywords: cancer; quality of life; counselling; psychosis; fear; SEM.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBHR.2021.118791

International Journal of Behavioural and Healthcare Research, 2021 Vol.7 No.4, pp.318 - 330

Received: 05 Apr 2021
Accepted: 03 Jul 2021
Published online: 06 Nov 2021 *

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