Evaluation of Stigma, Depression, Anxiety, and Quality of Life Levels in Patients with Lung Cancer: Path Analysis

Objective: This study aimed was to investigate the levels of stigma, quality of life anxiety and depression in patients with lung cancer treated at the Süleyman Demirel University Research and Practice Hospital, and to investigate the relationships between these measures. Material and Methods: In this study, planned as a crosssectional analytical study, the prepared questionnaire was applied to 151 patients diagnosed with lung cancer. Path analysis was used for the analytical evaluation of this study. Results: On the stigma score results of the analysis; positive effect of cigarette pack-year increase (β=0.257, p<0.001); quality of life score increase (β=-0.174, p=0.022) had a negative effect. Quality of life scores in patients with lung cancer; depression scores (β=-0.546, p<0.001), anxiety scores (β=-0.276, p<0.001) and stage scale (β=-0.093, p=0.046) had a negative effect, while sleep quality score increase had a positive effect (β=0.108, p=0.040) was observed. The final path model gave good fit with the values (χ2 /df=1.44; root mean square error of approximation=0.054; Goodness of Fit Index=0.943; Comparative Fit Index=0.960). Conclusion: This study contributes to the limited literature on the relationship between quality of life and stigma in patients with lung cancer, emphasizing the impact of potential psychological mechanisms such as depression, anxiety and sleep quality underlying this relationship. Future work should focus on developing stigma reduction interventions and considering the significant mediating effect of patients' quality of life levels on their experience of stigma.