Illness perception, perceived social support and quality of life in patients with diagnosis of cancer

Introduction: Research has shown that social support has a significant impact on quality of life. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to determine the relationship between perceived social support, perception of disease and quality of life, and the factors affecting these, in patients with cancer in Turkey. Methods: The study data were collected from two hospitals. Data were collected using the face-to-face interview method from patients diagnosed with cancer between March and August 2018. No sampling was performed, and the entire population was studied. Results: The mean age of the patients in the study was 61.37 ± 14.89 years. Married patients had better social support than single individuals (t = 2.129; p = 0.035). Significant negative correlation was found between the illness perception scale and total quality of life scale score (r = −0.163; p = 0.026), and physical well-being (r = −0.224; p = 0.002) and social well-being (r = −0.199; p = 0.006) subscales. Conclusion: Patients’ social support and quality of life were at moderate levels. Married participants had better social support than single participants, and operated participants had better social support than unoperated participants. As illness perception decreased, quality of life, physical well-being and social well-being increased.