Social support has emerged in recent years as a major topic in investigations of psychosocial variables influencing health-related outcomes. Findings from studies (Castelli, 1992; Johnson, 1982; Mclllnurray & Holdcroft, 1993; McMillan et al., 1993; Spiegel, Bloom & Yalom, 1981) suggest that social support helps cancer patients adjust themselves psychosocially to cancer. Depending on the stages of disease, need of social support may be different in cancer patients. For that reason, it proposed to assess social support at more than a single point in time.
With these backgrounds, this study was conducted to examine different contents and sources of need of social support and perceived social support according to disease process, and provide guidelines for specific and proper supportive care for them. In Korea, gastric cancer is revealed the highest death rate in male cancer patients.
Subjects were composed of 103 patients with gastric cancer; 18 in diagnostic period, 23 undergoing surgery, 44 undergoing chemotherapy and 18 in post-treatment adjustment period. They were contacted either in oncologic wards or out patient department in one tertiary hospital in Seoul.
The instruments of this study were Social Support Need Scale and Perceived Social Support Scale which were developed by the researcher. These scales in the form of 5-point Likert type, consists of 20 items, including 3 subscales of emotional support, informational support and instrumental support. The higher the score, the higher the need of social support or the perceived social support.
Data were anlalized by SPSS/PC+ program; ANOVA was used to examine differences of needs of social support and perceived social support at 4 points of time (diagnostic period, surgical period, period of chemotherapy and post-treatment period), respectively. Paired t-test was used to compare need of social support with perceived social support at each point.
The results were as follows:
1. There was no significant differences in total need of social support at 4 points of time. But there were significant differences in need of informational support and need of instrumental support among 3 subscales. Need of informational support was the highest in diagnostic period
and the lowest in the period of chemotherapy. Need of instrumental support was the highest in surgical period and the lowest in diagnostic period.
2. There were no significant differences in total perceived social support and 3 subscale at 4 points of time, respectively.
3. Need of instrumetal support was higher in women than men, while age was a factor of perceived instrumental support. Perceived instrumental support was the highest at sixties, and the lowest at fifties.
4. In comparison of need of social support and perceived social support at 4 points of time, mean score of total need of social support was significantly higher than score of total perceived social support in diagnostic period, mean score of perceived emotional support higher than score of emotional support need in the period of chemotherapy, and mean score of need of informational support was higher than score of perceived informational support at each period.
5. Main sources of emotional support need were spouse, doctors, and brothers or sisters in order, sources of informational support need were doctors, spouse, and nurses in order, and sources of instrumental support need were spouse, brothers or sisters, and children in order. Sources of perceived emotional social support were spouse, children and nurses in order, sources of perceived informational social support were doctors, spouse, and children in order, and sources of perceived instrumental social support were spouse, brothers or sisters, children in order.
In conclusions, need of social support and perceived social support in patients having gastric cancer were different as to changing disease process. And sex and age influenced instrumental social support. The results of the study indicate that nurses and other health care workers who deal with the patients with gastric cancer should pay attention to the disease process as well as the kinds of support that the patients need. They also indicate that nurses should provide the support, especially focusing on the informational need of gatric cancer patients.
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