[Precancerous stages of cervix cancer (CIN)--attitude and coping with the disease]

The subjective reactions and the mental state of 50 patients with a diagnosis CIN I, II and III were studied. The data were gathered after gynaecological follow-up examinations in semistructured interviews and with a list of complaints (B-L) according to Zerssen (1975). Patients with CIN I or II were examined and interviewed 3 months after diagnosis, patients with persistent CIN I or II were studied after 6 months, and patients with CIN III before conization. Patients with CIN reacted to the diagnosis in a similar manner to patients confronted with the diagnosis of cancer. Effective coping with the disease depended on adequate medical information being received by the women. The patients who were satisfied with the medical information had a more positive approach to the course of the disease and found it less life-threatening than those patients who were dissatisfied with the information received. The results of this study indicate that subjective experience of the disease is largely independent of its objective severity.