Cancer disclosure to friends: Survey on psychological distress and perceived social support provision

To determine the factors associated with the degree of distress experienced by patients with cancer before disclosing their cancer diagnosis to a friend and their perceptions of social support upon disclosure.

Adult patients with cancer participated in a cross-sectional Internet-based survey on their behaviour when disclosing their diagnosis to a selected friend, degree of distress before this disclosure and perceived social support upon disclosure.

Of 473 eligible respondents, around half were middle-aged (40-59 years) and around half were men. Having a younger age (20-39 years), being a woman and delaying disclosure were factors associated with greater pre-disclosure distress. Most participants perceived receiving emotional support upon disclosure. Telling a close friend or a female friend and early disclosure timing were associated with perceived social support, although this varied by social support type.

Younger patients and women may need more support in deciding to disclose their cancer diagnosis to friends. Selection of to whom to disclose this information and disclosure timing should be considered to achieve more desirable outcomes. In addition to selective disclosure-including planning and scheduling-communication skills may be required for effectively disclosing a cancer diagnosis and achieving favourable results following this disclosure.