The role of psychological characteristics of the personality of patients with colorectal cancer in the timeliness of diagnosis verification and prognosis of disease outcome

I. Ponomareva, Y. Pakhomova, D. Tsiring, E. Sergienko, A. Vazhenin

National Research Tomsk State University, Laboratory of Psychophysiology, Tomsk, Russia. ivp-csu@yandex.ru

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• Oncology
• Psychology

OBJECTIVE: Colorectal cancer (CRC) has become the third most commonly diagnosed type of cancer in the world. Based on the risk factors for colorectal cancer (behavior, lifestyle), it is important to better understand the behavioral and psychological characteristics of the individual associated with timely seeking medical help, coping with the extreme situation of diagnosis, and the course of the disease. This determined the purpose of the study: identify the psychological characteristics of patients with colorectal cancer associated with the stage of diagnosis verification and the prognosis of disease outcome.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: Coping, quality of life, and resilience, as well as clinical and sociodemographic variables were studied in 72 patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer. The design of the study involved studying the relationship between the stage of cancer and the prognosis of the outcome of the disease, as well as the role of psychological variables in the timeliness of diagnosis and predicting the outcome of cancer.

RESULTS: The stage of verification of colorectal cancer is associated with the prognosis of the outcome of the cancer; the later colorectal cancer is verified, the more unfavorable the prognosis of the outcome of the oncological disease. Escape-avoidance coping is associated with the verification stage of colorectal cancer; pronounced avoidance is associated with the late verification stage. Coping strategies such as seeking social support, positive reappraisal, risk-taking, pain intensity, and role functioning significantly influence the prognosis of colorectal cancer outcomes.

CONCLUSIONS: The psychological characteristics of the personality of patients with colorectal cancer have been identified, which, by determining the behavior of patients, affect the timeliness of diagnosis verification and the prognosis of the outcome of the disease.

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