Social support and quality of life among oncology patients

Introduction. Advances in medicine have improved cancer survival rates, but treatment remains lengthy and ex­hausting. The disease and therapy significantly impact patients’ well-being, making quality of life a key concern. More and more research indicates that social support, particularly emotional and informational, may play a sig­nificant role in coping with cancer and its treatment. Material and methods. The study included adult cancer patients from the Pomeranian Hospitals in Gdynia. Data were collected using a custom questionnaire and four standardized tools: Berlin Social Support Scales (BSSS), WHO Quality of Life Scale (WHOQOL-BREF), Hospital Anxiety and Depression — modified scale (HADS-M), and Mini-COPE. Results. The study involved 102 participants. Quality of life assessments indicated that physical functioning was the most affected domain. The most common coping strategies were Active coping , Seeking support , and Acceptance . Statistical analysis showed that Helplessness correlated positively with Anxiety and Depression , whereas Active coping and Seeking support correlated negatively. Emotional and instrumental social support strongly correlated with lower Anxiety and Depression levels. Strong negative correlations were observed, par­ticularly between Actually received emotional support and Depression (r = –0.52, p < 0.001), as well as Anxiety (r = –0.48, p < 0.001). Conclusions. Social support may play an important role in reducing psychological distress in cancer pa­tients. Greater perceived and received emotional and instrumental support are linked to lower anxiety and depres­sion. Strengthening support systems can enhance coping strategies and improve quality of life. These findings emphasize the need for psychosocial interventions to optimize treatment outcomes and overall well-being.