Current status of illness perception and analysis of its correlation with quality of life in patients undergoing radiotherapy for lung cancer

Objective To investigate the illness perception and quality of life in patients undergoing radiotherapy for lung cancer and to explore its correlation with quality of life. Methods Totally 118 patients undergoing radiotherapy for lung cancer in a ClassⅢ Grade A hospital between June and December 2017 were selected by purposive sampling. The Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (BIPQ) and the Quality of Life Questionnaire-Core 30 (QLQ-C30) were used to investigate their illness perception and quality of life. The correlation between the two was analyzed by Pearson correlation analysis. Results The illness perception score of these patients was (52.22±9.87) . In terms of quality of life, the highest score was found in psychical function (62.45±12.56) , whereas the lowest was found in nausea and vomiting (20.65±8.78) . The scores in different dimensions of the quality of life questionnaire for patients with lung cancer were correlated with illness perception (r=-0.26, -0.13, -0.41, -0.21, 0.06, 0.22, 0.28, -0.38; P<0.05) , except for cognitive function, fatigue, pain, loss of appetite, diarrhea and financial difficulty. Conclusions Patients with lung cancer show more negative perception of illness and lower quality of life. Therefore, nursing measures shall be taken to reduce their negative perception and improve their quality of life. Key words: Lung neoplasms; Quality of life; Illness perception; Radiotherapy