Self-efficacy for coping with cancer and quality of life in advanced gastric cancer patients

Purpose: Coping is one of the most frequently addressed topics in palliative care. Beliefs and expectations about one's own capacity to cope with cancer will lead to actual coping, which is known to contribute to quality of life (QoL). The current study aimed to describe self-efficacy (SE) for coping with cancer and to evaluate its relationship with QoL in advanced gastric cancer (AGC) patients. Method: A descriptive correlational study was conducted with 202 AGC patients. SE for coping with cancer was measured by the Cancer Behavior Inventory version 3.0 – Korean. QoL was evaluated using the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy – Gastric (FACT-Ga) and the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy – Spiritual Well-Being (FACIT-Sp) Korean version. Data were analyzed using t-tests, Spearman correlations and multiple regression analyses. Results: SE for seeking and understanding medical information was the highest ranked subscale, while using spiritual coping was the lowest ranked subscale. SE for maintaining activity and independence, accepting cancer/maintaining a positive attitude/making decisions demonstrated a significant contribution to QoL as measured by the FACT-Ga and the FACIT-Sp. SE for using spiritual coping demonstrated a significant contribution to the FACIT-Sp. Conclusion: SE for coping with cancer demonstrated significant contributions to QoL in AGC patients. The assessment of SE for coping with cancer is recommended for practice. Considering its contribution to patients’ QoL, interventions to improve SE for coping with cancer need to be pursued in future studies.