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Cited by 8Cancer survivorship and carePsychological Well-being and Life SatisfactionPalliative and Oncologic Care

What Is Missing for You to Be Happy? Comparison of the Pursuit of Happiness among Cancer Patients, Informal Caregivers, and Healthy Individuals

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de Camargos, Mayara Goulart, Paiva, Bianca Sakamoto Ribeiro, de Almeida, Carla Simone Leite, Paiva, Carlos Eduardo·2019·Journal of Pain and Symptom Management
DOI 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2019.05.023
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Abstract

Context After cancer diagnosis, personal value priorities may change in a way that would transform such values and how life is perceived by cancer patients and their caregivers, including happiness and its pursuit. Objectives The objective of the study was to analyze and compare what cancer patients, informal caregivers, and healthy population believe that would make them happy. Methods A qualitative content analysis was performed on the responses to a single question: "What is missing for you to be happy?" Narratives of cancer patients (n = 242, face-to-face interview), informal caregivers (n = 125, face-to-face interview), and healthy participants (n = 1,671, recruited through social media, online survey) were analyzed. Word clouds were created for each group of participants. Contents were identified and frequencies were compared among participants by means of chi-square and Fisher's exact tests. Results Overall, participants were pursuing better health (n = 288, 14.1%), better interpersonal relationships (n = 456, 22.4%), money (n = 412, 20.2%), and work-related aspects (n = 481, 23.6%). Cancer patients and informal caregivers sought better health and cure more often than when compared to healthy people (P < 0.001). Among cancer patients, survivors' profile tended to be similar to that of the healthy population concerning what they need to be happy. Unexpectedly, "cure" (22.7%) was more frequent among participants with incurable cancer. Conclusion Regardless of the group they were in, participants sought happiness in what they considered to be important to their lives, but it was something they did not have at the time of the interview. Psychoeducational and cognitive-behavioral strategies focused on how to deal with life expectations among people facing cancer are awaited.

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  • 26 studies alluded to emotional and psychological problems suffered by caregivers, highlighting anxiety, depression, feelings of grief and distress, and high levels of stress.

    “At an emotional level, 26 studies [22,23,25,26,27,28,29,30,33,34,35,36,38,40,41,42,43,44,45,46,47,48,49,50,51,52] alluded to the emotional and psychological problems suffered by caregivers, highlighting anxiety, depression, feelings of grief and distress, and high levels of stress.”

    From Quality of Life in Caregivers of Cancer Patients: A Literature Review (2023) · cites this paper as [23]

    The Introduction says cancer caregiving can affect caregivers’ mental health and quality of life, and describes anxiety, depression, and distress as negative consequences studied in oncology. But this paper does not establish grief or high stress among its caregivers; its Results describe a study of happiness, not measurements of those symptoms. The count of 26 studies is the citing paper’s synthesis, not a finding attributed to this individual source. (LLM, conf=0.82)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • 13 studies indicated the need of developing coping strategies to improve management and control of both the situation and emotional strain, and to help increase training in caregivers, thus improving self-efficacy while reducing emotional impact.

    “Thirteen studies [23,24,27,30,32,35,37,38,45,46,47,49,54] indicated the need of developing coping strategies to improve the management and control of both the situation and the emotional strain, and also to help increase training in caregivers, thus improving their self-efficacy while reducing the emotional impact.”

    From Quality of Life in Caregivers of Cancer Patients: A Literature Review (2023) · cites this paper as [23]

    Split into 2 atoms — 0 confirmed, 1 partially supported, 0 disputed, 0 misattributed, 1 unverifiable. Expand the claim to see per-atom verdicts.

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  • The caregiver role for adults with cancer is usually undertaken by spouses or daughters/sons of the patient.

    “the role of caregiver is undertaken by spouses or daughters/sons of people with cancer and usually share the same home [22,23,25,26,27,28,30,32,33,34,35,36,37,38,39].”

    From Quality of Life in Caregivers of Cancer Patients: A Literature Review (2023) · cites this paper as [23]

    The Supplementary section gives an example of an informal caregiver referring to her daughter’s cure, supporting that a child can be the patient. But the paper does not establish that caregivers are usually spouses or sons/daughters, and its Introduction defines informal caregivers more broadly to include family, friends, and others. The cited passages also do not establish that caregivers usually share the patient’s home. (LLM, conf=0.73)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Care provision by caregivers of adults with cancer causes emotional and psychological problems, including distress, stress, high anxiety, and depression.

    “Most of the studies [22,23,25,26,27,28,29,30,33,34,35,36,38,40,41,42,43,44,45,46,47,48,49,50,51,52] have referenced the emotional and psychological problems suffered by caregivers, describing feelings of distress, stress, high levels of anxiety, and even depression.”

    From Quality of Life in Caregivers of Cancer Patients: A Literature Review (2023) · cites this paper as [23]

    The Introduction says that helping cancer patients with functional, clinical, and psychosocial issues may affect caregivers’ mental health and quality of life. It does not establish that caregiving causes distress, stress, high anxiety, or depression in these caregivers; the paper’s Results do not report those outcomes for caregivers. (LLM, conf=0.86)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Ten studies did not describe average age.

    “However, it must be highlighted that 10 studies did not describe average age [22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31].”

    From Quality of Life in Caregivers of Cancer Patients: A Literature Review (2023) · cites this paper as [23]

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
de Camargos, M. G., Paiva, B. S. R., de Almeida, C. S. L., & Paiva, C. E.
Affiliations
Hospital de Câncer de Barretos (BR)
Corresponding author
Paiva, Carlos Eduardo
ORCID
Venue
Journal of Pain and Symptom Management
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2019-09
Volume
58
Issue
3
Pages
417-426.e4
ISSN
0885-3924 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2019.05.023
OpenAlex
W2951563657
Cited by
8
References
5
Citations by year
2024: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 2
FWCI
0.63
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Journal of Pain and Symptom Management (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
Barretos Cancer Hospital
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Cancer survivorship and care
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Palliative and Oncologic Care
Keywords
happiness, pursuit of happiness, cancer patients, informal caregivers, healthy individuals, value priorities, interpersonal relationships, financial well-being, work, incurable cancer, cancer survivors, life expectations
MeSH terms
Cancer Survivors, Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Female, Happiness, Health Status, Humans, Interpersonal Relations, Male, Middle Aged, Neoplasms, Personal Satisfaction, Quality of Life, Surveys and Questionnaires, Caregivers, Young Adult

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