Stress and coping strategies of patients with cancer: A Korean study

Cancer is a potential life-threatening illness that engenders considerable psychologic distress, requiring persistent coping for the treatment procedures. In this cross-sectional descriptive study stress levels and coping strategies of 257 cancer patients residing in South Korea are addressed. Lazarus and Folkman's theory of stress and coping was used as the theoretical framework. The data were collected from November 1999 to March 2000 by face-to-face interviews. Study participants were primarily male (62.6%) and married (91.4%). Cancer of the gastrointestinal system was the most prevalent type of cancer (31.3%). Women and the patients in the third-stage of cancer showed higher stress but less coping than other groups. Stress was negatively correlated with both problem-focused coping and emotion-focused coping. Korean patients with cancer used emotion-focused coping strategies more than problemfocused coping strategies.