Coping strategy influences quality of Life in patients with advanced lung cancer by mediating mood

Abstract Introduction Patients with advanced lung cancer experience high physical symptom burden with substantial psychological distress. Depressive and anxiety symptoms are common and associated with worse Quality of Life (QoL). Early palliative care (EPC) addresses the complex supportive care needs improving QoL and mood. The mechanisms of EPC are uncertain. We examined whether and how coping strategy, a primary component of early palliative care, influenced QoL in these patients. Materials and Methods We conducted a multi-centre cross-sectional study of patients with advanced lung cancer. 125 patients completed assessments of QoL (QLQ-C15-PAL), depressive and anxiety symptoms (HADS) and coping (brief COPE questionnaire). The data were analysed by descriptive statistics. To determine whether and how coping strategy influences QoL, correlations and logistic regressions were performed. Results Positive reframing correlates significantly with global QoL (r = .25, p Conclusion Patients with advanced lung cancer using positive reframing as coping strategy, experience higher QoL. The mechanism behind it seems that positive reframing goes along with less anxiety and depressive symptoms leading to a better QoL. Self-blame leads to more insomnia and worse emotional well-being. Providing skills to cope effectively could impact QoL in these patients.