Self-Advocacy in cancer Survivors and Influencing Factors: a Systematic Review

Cancer patients face substantial psychological stress and obstacles to survival. Self-advocacy is essential for their mental health and participation in disease management. This research evaluates the relevant factors that impact self-advocacy among cancer survivors.

Eight electronic databases were searched for this systematic review, including PubMed, EMBASE, The Cochrane Library, Web of Science, CNKI, VIP Database, CBM, and WANFANG (China) from inception to August 20, 2024. All studies included in this review underwent quality assessment using the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) tool.

Seventeen articles were included as part of the study. Self-advocacy of cancer patients can be altered by a wide range of factors, which we divided into six separate categories: demographic and sociocultural characteristics, personal health status and behavioral factors, social and environmental factors, psychological and emotional factors, disease-related factors, and healthcare-related factors.

This systematic review classifies the factors influencing self-advocacy. However, the influence of some influencing factors (e.g. duration of disease, perception of disease) is still controversial within the literature. Moreover, research on self-advocacy has focused mostly on female cancer survivors. Future research should be conducted using longitudinal studies involving distinct participants and large sample sizes to investigate contested aspects and dynamic changes in self-advocacy among both male and female cancer patients.