Quality of life of cancer patients in underserved populations in South Africa

The majority of studies on the relationship between cancer and well-being h ave been conducted in the United States and other Western countries. Conseq uently, a bias might exist that ignores the influence of cultural factors o n perceptions of cancer, its etiology, and treatment. This investigation, a pilot study using African languages, attempted to explore the impacts of c ulture on health-related quality of life by using Cella's FACT-G scales to study rural Zulu, Pedi, and Tswana patients of extremely low socioeconomic status. Results suggest that cultural factors may exert a significant influ ence on the experience of FACT-G measured quality-of-life issues for cancer patients. Specifically, cultural attitudes toward accepting fate, a high l evel of trust and deference to healers, and a highly collectivistic orienta tion surrounding treatment decisions and procedures may have had an impact on the patient's scores on all four FACT-G subscales. [Article copies avail able for a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Set-vice: 1-800-342-9678. E-mail address: < getinfo@haworthpressinc.com > Website: < http://www.Hawo rthPress. com > (C) 2001 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.]