Factors determining the acceptance of the disease in patients treated oncologically

Materials and method. The study involved 229 patients of the Specialist Hospital of Priest B. Markiewicz Podkarpackie Cancer Centre in Brzozw. The patients were selected at random. The method of a diagnostic survey and the questionnaire technique were used. The standardized research tool used was the: "Acceptance of Illness Scale" adapted by Z. Juczyski and the author-constructed questionnaire, Kendall's Tau-c correlation, as well as Cramer's V symmetric measure based on chi-square. Results. The degree of acceptance of the disease in the examined group of patients was 25.03. Nearly a half of the patients (48.8%) showed a moderate level of cancer acceptance, 28.8% a high level, while 21.4% of patients demonstrated low acceptance. The highest acceptance of the disease was found in patients aged under 40, who were married and occupationally active. No differences in the degree of acceptance of the disease were observed according to gender, place of residence, education and the occurrence of pain. Conclusions. Factors related with acceptance of the disease in the examined group of patients were age, marital status, occupational activity, as well as the method of treatment and assessment of the state of health. The largest number of patients demonstrated an average and high degree of acceptance of cancer. Such an attitude towards the disease may exert a positive effect on the treatment process, and also a higher quality of life in the disease.