Development of a nursing model for life adjustment in patients with lung cancer in Japan

The aim of this study was to obtain basic data about the support for life adjustment in lung cancer patients in Japan. We identified factors that affect life adjustment in people with lung cancer, developed a model for life adjustment support of lung cancer patients, and investigated its validity. A survey was conducted using self-completed questionnaires, and responses were received by 203 individuals. Analysis of the responses revealed that life adjustment was regulated by six factors associated with positive self-evaluation: stress dissipation, fighting spirit, helplessness/hopelessness, full discussion with doctor about treatment, clarity of thought, and support network size. A model search with covariance structure analysis was conducted. The resulting model was revealed to have a goodness-of-fit index of 0.963, an adjusted goodness-of-fit index of 0.930, a comparative fit index of 0.974, and a root mean square error of approximation of 0.040. The findings suggest that improvements in quality of life can be expected by combining a positive self-evaluation in lung cancer patients and interventions to raise self-adjustment ability with the use of this Model, although it requires further testing.