The Effects Of Social Capital On Mental Health And Health-related Quality Of Life Among Breast Cancer Patients

BackgroundAs the most universal malignant tumor in the world,breast cancer has the highest morbidity and mortality among female malignant tumors,seriously threatening women’s health and life.China has surpassed the world’s average growth level and the region with high incidence of breast cancer,becoming the country with the fastest growth rate of breast cancer patients.Mental health and quality of life of breast cancer patients are urgent issues in the medical field today.As an important social factor,social capital has attracted extensive attention of scholars and brought a new perspective for improving health.At present,there are few researches on the relationship between social capital and breast cancer health in China.Understanding the social capital status of breast cancer patients and analyzing its influence on their physical and mental health will provide scientific basis for alleviating their negative emotions and improving their survival status from the perspective of improving social capital in the future.ObjectiveThis study aims to examine social capital,mental health and quality of life among patients with breast cancer in sample hospitals,understand the status of social capital in breast cancer patients and its impact on their mental health and quality of life,so as to provide reference for alleviating negative emotions and improving quality of life in breast cancer patients from the perspective of social capital.MethodsFrom July to October 2021,cluster sampling method was used to select subjects who met the inclusion criteria at Shandong Cancer Hospital.Face-to-face questionnaire survey was conducted.The main contents of the survey included patients’ social demographic characteristics,disease-related characteristics,social capital,depression,anxiety and quality of life.The description analysis was used for basic information of the patients.Univariate analysis was conducted to compare the difference in social capital,mental health and quality of life among different subjects.Univariate analysis mainly adopted t-test,one-way ANOVA analysis of variance,Mann-whitney U test and Kruskal Wallis H test.Spearman correlation analysis was conducted to analyze correlation between social capital and mental health and quality of life.With mental health score as dependent variable and total social capital score and each dimension score as independent variables,binary logistic regression analysis was used.With the quality of life score as the dependent variable and the total score of social capital and each dimension score as the independent variable,the generalized linear regression analysis was used.So as to further determine predictive effect of social capital on mental health and quality of life.Results(1)Social capital of breast cancer patients:In terms of social participation,the subjects’overall social participation was low,while their participation in family circle(the circle that include all families and relatives)was the highest.In terms of social connection,the subjects were most closely connected with families/relatives/friends,and 16.02%had close ties with their neighbors.In terms of social support,the subjects The study subjects received better social support from individuals and less organizational support.In terms of social trust,the subjects have a higher degree of complete trust in their family members/relatives/doctors in general hospitals.The subjects showed high sense of reciprocity and high sense of cohesion and belonging.(2)Influencing factor analysis of social capital:Univariate analysis showed that age,education,employment,religious belief and residence had a statistical significance on patients’ social capital.(3)Mental health status and influencing factor analysis:Among 206 breast cancer patients in this survey,92 patients may have depression,accounting for 44.66%;83 people may have anxiety,accounting for 40.29%.Univariate analysis showed that there were differences in the incidence of depression among patients with different marital status,and differences in the incidence of anxiety among patients with different religious beliefs.(4)Quality of life status and influencing factors analysis:Total score among patients in this survey was 58.06±12,39,which is at moderate level.BMI,employment status,marital status and radiotherapy had a statistical significance on the quality of life of the patients.(5)Effects of social capital on mental health and quality of life:The relationship between social capital and mental health:correlation analysis showed that social trust and total score of social capital are negatively correlated with depression;binary logistic regression analysis showed that social trust was still an independent factor influencing depression after controlling for other variables(OR=0.914,95%CI:0.843-0.992).The relationship between social capital and quality of life:correlation analysis showed that social participation,social contact,reciprocity and total score of social capital are positively correlated with actual quality of life.Analysis of generalized linear regression model indicated after other variables were controlled,the influence of social participation,social connection and reciprocity were statistically on quality of life was statistically significant(P<0.05).Conclusions and SuggestionsThis study found that the breast cancer patients in this survey had a low degree of social participation,in terms of social contact,families/relatives/friends are the main ones,and lack of organizational support,had high degree of reciprocity,had high sense of cohesion and belonging.Breast cancer patients have a high detection rate of depression and anxiety,and their quality of life is at a moderate level.Social capital had influence on mental health and quality of life of breast cancer patients.The higher the level of social trust,the lower the incidence of depression may be.The higher the level of social participation,social connection and reciprocity,the better the patient’s quality of life is likely to be.According to the research results,this study puts forward the following suggestions:(1)Increase investment in community public places and infrastructure,improve the enthusiasm of community residents for social participation,and use community resources to guide breast cancer patients to selectively participate in social activities conducive to their healthy development,so as to improve their quality of life.(2)Improve the medical security system for breast cancer patients,give play to the social assistance function of social charity institutions,provide multiple security for breast cancer patients,and improve the social material and spiritual support for breast cancer patients.(3)Develop social organizations and activities for breast cancer patients,such as establishing cancer rehabilitation clubs and mutual assistance forums based on social software,to promote patients’ social participation,and effectively establish a social network for patients to exchange information and share experiences.(4)To improve the mental health care plan for breast cancer patients,medical staff of relevant tumor departments should provide psychological counseling services for patients in time,develop personalized intervention programs according to the characteristics of patients,and provide patients with correct psychological counseling.