A Descriptive Study to assess the Level of Stress and its Coping Strategies among Cancer Patients in Selected Hospitals of Punjab, 2014

Stress is a normal part of life that can either help to learn and grow or can cause significant problems. The effects of stress may vary from person to person. The term "stress", was coined by Hans Selye in 1936, who defined it as "the non-specific response of the body to any demand for change." Stress symptoms can affect the body, thoughts and feelings, and behaviour of the individual. Stress management refers to the wide spectrum of techniques and psychotherapies aimed at controlling a person's levels of stress, especially chronic stress, usually for the purpose of improving everyday functioning. Stress is more common in the cancer patients. Due to taking lot of stress it weakens the immune system of the person.

To assess the level of stress and its coping strategies among the cancer patients in selected hospitals of Punjab.

To find out the relationship between the stress and its coping strategies.

To find out the association between level of stress and its coping strategies and their selected socio-demographic variables.

Non- experimental (Descriptive Design)

Oncology department of selected hospitals of Punjab

All cancer patients

200 cancer patients selected from selected hospitals of Punjab

Convenience Sampling Technique

Findings of the study has shown that profound level (73%) of stress present in cancer patients and 90% cancer patients had use poor coping strategies.