1.Self-esteem among cancer patients receiving chemotherapy in selected government state hospitals, Peninsular Malaysia
Vidthya Sivaperumal ; Sherina Mohd Sidik ; Lekhraj Rampal ; Siti Irma Fadhilah Ismail ; Ummavathy Periasamy
The Medical Journal of Malaysia 2019;74(5):405-412
Introduction: The number of cancer cases in Malaysia has
increased from 32,000 cases in 2008 with to 37,000 in 2012
(check figures in text). This number is expected to rise to
56,932 by 2025. Cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy
experience low to moderate level of self-esteem.
Objectives: To determine the self-esteem among oncology
patients receiving chemotherapy in selected government
state hospitals, Peninsular Malaysia.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using selfadministered questionnaires. 953 respondents were given
questionnaires which included socio-demographic profile,
physical effect, depression, anxiety, quality of life and self
esteem. Inferential analysis was done by using Independent
T-test or Pearson’s Correlation and the level of significance
was p<0.05. Multivariate logistic regression was then used
to determine the predictors using Statistical Package for
Social Sciences software version 22.0
Results: All 953 respondents selected participated in this
study. The overall mean self-esteem in this study was 22.67,
SD=4.98. The significant predictors of self-esteem where pvalue was <0.05 were age; gender; marital status; working
status; anxiety; depression; nausea; anemia; hair loss; skin
and nail changes; overall quality of life and psychological
domain of quality of life.
The finding of this study indicates that predictors of selfesteem among patients undergoing chemotherapy should
be taken into account to improve their quality of life.
Guidelines on how to manage self-esteem in a
chemotherapy patient can be done using this study as the
baseline