The relationship between social support and life expectancy in cancer patients during chemotherapy; an original study

Abstract

Introduction: Developing patients’ tolerance in receiving treatment and enhancing their life expectancy has been increasingly recognized as the important end-points in cancer disease. Objectives: This cross-sectional study aimed at exploring the relationship between received social support and its correlation with life expectancy in cancer patients during chemotherapy. Patients and Methods: Around 210 cancer patients were selected through simple sampling procedure from the clinics of Isfahan medical science University, Iran. Sherbourne and Stewart questionnaire and Miller questionnaire were used to assess social support and life expectancy, respectively. The collected data were analyzed by independent t test and linear regression. Results: We found a significant positive correlation between total social support score and life expectancy scores. Additionally, a significant positive correlation between different aspects of social support — tangible support, emotional support and kindness—with positive social interaction and life expectancy was detected. Conclusion: Our results highlights that social support may develop life expectancy in cancer patients depending on the extent of disease; however, extensive and longitudinal studies on social support and life expectancy in cancer patients should be performed.