Correlates of hopelessness in cancer patients

This study examines correlates of hopelessness in cancer patients who were suffering from various diagnoses and were at different stages of disease. The study was based on questionnaires administered to a sample of 253 hospitalized cancer patients in the Department of Oncology, University Hospital of Trondheim, Norway. A 14-item Hopelessness Scale was found to be one-dimensional and satisfactory in terms of scalability and reliability. The distribution of the scale was skewed to the left: that is, most patients displayed low feelings of hopelessness. A multiple regression analysis showed that the patients? physical functioning, age, and economic situation were significantly related to their scores on the Hopelessness Scale. A Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed a significant relationship between survival and hopelessness. However, a multiple Cox regression analysis showed that hopelessness was not significantly related to survival when other relevant covariates were controlled for.