Attitudes towards cancer of parents admitted to the emergency department with a sick child: A Cross-sectional study

Authors : Ayşegül Şimşek, Ferhat Günerigök, Muhammet Ali Varkal

Pages : 554-561

Doi:10.18663/tjcl.1543065

View : 30 | Download : 61

Publication Date : 2024-12-31

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :Aim: Parents\\\' perspectives change when it comes to illnesses such as cancer. Parents find it stressful, especially given what society thinks and believes. The aim of this study is to determine how parents with a sick child feel about cancer. Material and Methods: The descriptive and cross-sectional study was completed with parents who presented to the pediatric emergency department of a hospital. The Measuring Attitudes Towards Cancer Questionnaire—Society Version and the Sociodemographic Information Form for parents and their children were used to gather the information. Scores of 2.5 and above indicate negative attitudes towards cancer. The statistical program was used to analyze the gathered information. Results: The study was completed with 83 parents. There was no family history of cancer in 84.3% of them. The overall score for \\\"the scale was found to be 3.2 points. In addition, 3.1 points were obtained from the impossibility of healing, 3.4 from the discrimination sub-dimension, and 3.1 from the cancer diagnosis and spread sub-dimension. A statistically significant difference was found between the total and all sub-dimensions of the scale and the number of previous hospitalizations, maternal age, paternal age, and maternal employment status (p<0.05). There was a significant difference between economic status and the sub-dimension of revealing or disseminating the cancer diagnosis (p=0.04). A significant difference was found between the way of perceiving religion and the impossibility of recovery sub-dimension (p=0.02) and the scale total score (p=0.03). Conclusion: The findings indicate that parents have negative perceptions of cancer. Individual characteristics are proven to affect attitudes.
Keywords : Kanser, ebeveyn, sosyal davranış, damgalanma.