Characteristics of perceptions of illness causes in women with gynecological can-cers

Abstract

The article presents the results of an online study comparing illness representations in women with gynecological cancers and women without a family history of oncological diseases. The study involved 203 respondents: 88 women with various types of gynecological cancer from online patient communities (mean age 49.9 ± 8.6 years) and 115 women from different online communities without a family history of cancer (mean age 45.7 ± 10 years). Participants completed two questionnaires. In the first, respondents in the target group ranked three factors they believed were the most significant causes of their illness. The second questionnaire provided a list of 22 possible causes of cancer, asking respondents to rate the significance of each factor. This questionnaire was adapted for the comparison group to evaluate the perceived importance of various causes of oncological diseases. The list of perceived causes was based on the IPQ-R illness perception questionnaire adapted by E.I. Rasskazova and supplemented by experiences with patients with gynecological cancers. Statistical analysis, including contextual analysis, descriptive statistics, cross-tabulation, and the Mann-Whitney U test, revealed significant differences in the profiles of perceived causes of cancer between the compared groups of respondents.