Factors Associated with Suicide Risk in Advanced Cancer Patients: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

<br /> <span style="font-size: small;">The study aimed to find out to what degree suicidal thoughts and associated factors affect the suicide risk of </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">advanced cancer patients. The frequency of suicidal thoughts among patients with cancer, especially in the advanced stages, is about 3 times greater than the adult average in South Korea. We recruited 457 participants with four types </span></span><span style="font-size: small;">of cancers (colon, breast, cervical, and lung) using stratified sampling. Data collection was carried out through one-</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">on-one interviews by trained nurses using a structured questionnaire. Advanced cancer patients with high, vs. low, levels of anxiety and pain had a higher suicide risk. In contrast, having one's spouse as the primary care provider was associated with a low suicide risk. Overall, the three factors of anxiety, pain, and the primary caregiver being one's </span></span><span style="font-size: small;">spouse explained 17.2% of the variance in suicide risk. In conclusion, we derived influencing factors of suicide risk </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">using a sample of patients with various types of advanced cancer. The results provide systematic baseline data for preparing nurse-led interventions to prevent suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts among advanced cancer patients. </span></span>