Distress, illness perception and coping style among thyroid cancer patients after thyroidectomy: A cross-sectional study.

Purpose: Thyroid cancer generally has a good prognosis, and thyroidectomy is the main treatment given to thyroid cancer patients. Almost every cancer patient experiences varying degrees of distress, which can reduce their quality of life. This study aims to explore the level of distress and its relationship with illness perception and coping style among Chinese thyroid cancer patients after thyroidectomy and to identify the influencing factors on distress.

Methods: A cross-sectional study with convenience sampling method was conducted. Totally 184 thyroid cancer patients after thyroidectomy were recruited in a tertiary hospital in Southern China with the response rate being 94.4% . The participants were investigated by a self-designed demographic and disease-related questionnaire, the Distress Management, the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire, and the Medical Coping Modes Questionnaire. Descriptive statistics, univariate analysis, and multivariate linear regression were applied for data analysis.

Results: In total, 99 (53.8%) thyroid cancer patients after thyroidectomy scored 4 or higher on the DT. Illness perception, emotional problem, body image loss by surgical scars, and acceptance-resignation were the influencing factors of distress and could explain 67.6% of the variance of distress among thyroid cancer patients after thyroidectomy.

Conclusions: Healthcare professionals should not ignore the distress among thyroid cancer patients after thyroidectomy and should take effective measures to alleviate the distress of thyroid cancer patients after thyroidectomy by enhancing their accurate and positive illness perceptions, decreasing their emotional problems, alleviating their body image loss by surgical scars, and avoiding acceptance-resignation coping style.