Differences in psychological perception of lung cancer between patients, medical staff and medical students

In clinical practice, medical staff is often unaware that what they think about patient's disease differs much from the perceptions and feelings of the patient. The aim of the study was to analyse the differences in psychological perception of lung cancer between patients treated with combined regimen for lung cancer (n = 30), medical staff (n = 94) and medical students (n = 303).

A total of 427 persons were enrolled in this questionnaire study using Imagination and Perception of Illness Scale (IPIS) by Sak. The IPIS scale items described: loss of motivation to carry out specific activities (eight items), mental sphere destruction (six items), physical sphere destruction (eight items), pessimism (four items), being a burden to others (three items) and loss of control over the illness (three items). A seven-point scale from '0', meaning the choice of maximum positive feature, to '6', meaning the choice of maximum negative feature, was used. The higher result obtained within a given factor signified the more negative perception of the illness.

In all IPIS items, the results among patients were significantly lower than among medical staff or students (P = 0.018 and P = 0.001, respectively). Medical staff and students perceive lung cancer as causing more profound destruction in patient's mental and physical spheres than patients do.

Patients treated for lung cancer with combined regimen perceive their disease more optimistically than what is imagined by medical staff and students, and may underestimate the threat. It may be explained by psychological adaptation of patients to their disease during prolonged treatment. We believe that informing lung cancer patients in detail about their illness should be recommended to enhance self-awareness and doctor-patient cooperation.