The psychological symptoms of cancer survivors and influencing factors during the COVID-19 outbreak

Objective To investigate the psychological symptoms of cancer survivors during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak and its influencing factors. Methods A descriptive research design and a convenient sampling method were used. One hundred and thirty cancer survivors were selected from the social cancer club of Xuzhou from February to March 2020. The patients' general information questionnaire and the Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90) were used for data collection. Results The score of SCL-90 was (172.05±23.30) for cancer survivors during the COVID-19 outbreak. The total SCL-90 score and eight subscales' score (somatization, interpersonal relationship, depression, anxiety, hostility, terror, paranoia and psychotic) of cancer survivors during the COVID-19 outbreak were significantly higher than those under normal condition (P<0.05). Univariate analysis showed that there were significant differences in SCL-90 scores among patients with different educational level, duration of disease, tumor type, TNM stage and working status (P<0.05). Multiple regression analysis showed that the duration of disease, tumor type, TNM stage and working status were fitted into the regression equation of SCL-90 (F=10.11, P=0.00, adjusted R²=0.48). The cancer survivors with long duration of disease, colonrectal cancer, and TNM stage I, and retired survivors had less psychological symptoms. Conclusions During the COVID-19 outbreak, cancer survivors show high levels of psychological symptoms, which is associated with their working status, duration of disease, tumor type and TNM stage, which indicates that specific intervention and support are required.