The orofacial cancer patient's support from the general practitioner, hospital teams, family, and friends.

BACKGROUND

After the diagnosis of cancer, about a third of patients have adjustment disorders. Of recently diagnosed patients, 5 to 15% experience serious psychological disturbances, but their distress is often undetected and untreated. Little attention has been directed to the patients' sources of support and their adequacy.

METHODS

This study assessed a defined group (n = 49) of cancer patients' ratings of the support they received from general practitioners, hospital teams, family, and friends. Additional information was collected on the patients' interest in receiving further hospital services and their psychological morbidity (i.e., anxiety and depression).

RESULTS

The results show wide variation in patients' perceptions of the helpfulness of the primary and secondary care teams, raising concern about the levels of help and support available to some cancer patients.

CONCLUSIONS

Although this sample rated the help received from the hospital very highly, those patients who requested more information from the hospital sector showed little evidence of having had their general anxiety "buffered" by involvement of family members.