The quality of life in cancer patients: a cognitive approach

Background: The framework of our research is the approach used in constructive-cognitive psychology to assess the quality of life in cancer patients. The main issues that we addressed were subjective meaning attribution to facts and events, relevance of previous knowledge and natural theories about bodily processes and diseases, and quality of life evaluation. Methods: We studied 87 outpatients who had been referred to the Oncology Day Hospital and who were undergoing chemotherapy. They were all informed about the diagnosis and about the need for, and the aim of, the therapy by the same physician. The patients were asked to complete four questionnaires: the Cognitive Behavioral Assessment questionnaire to assess cognitive personality organization, the McGill and SF-36 questionnaires to evaluate quality of life, and the Cognitive Questionnaire to ascertain how much knowledge the patients had about chemotherapy. Results: Patients described and explained the action of chemotherapy differently, stressing either its destructive action or its constructive, positive modification of the tumor cells. Subjects with different personality organizations had dissimilar quality of life evaluations and, in some cases, interactions with cognitive components were found. Conclusions: Cognitive aspects, such as subjective meaning attribution and personality organization, are relevant, yet disregarded, variables affecting the quality of life of cancer patients.