มุมมองของผู้ป่วยมะเร็งช่องปากต่อคุณภาพชีวิตและกลยุทธ์การเผชิญปัญหา

Abstract

Survived with good quality of life is the main focus for current oral cancer treatment. The objective of this study is to find the understanding on oral cancer patients, who live in suburb area of Chiang Mai, about their perspective on quality of life and on their coping strategies. Patients' experiences with cancer and factors related to quality of life and coping were also included in this study. The phenomenological study using the in-depth, semi-structured interview were performed to 12 oral cancer participants living in Sanpatong and nearby district in Chiang Mai. Results showed the given meaning of quality of life as "Well-being life under the social and medical system support". Themes of the quality of life included 1) Fighting with bad luck, 2) Social network during coping, 3) Trust in doctor and advanced medical technology, 4) Local culture on spiritual curing, and 5) New identity after cancer. The symbolic of cancer is the unexpected death, therefore, patients had to cope for several times along the illness episode. The access to medical services, support from people in patient's social network, and the curing under local cultural believing helped patients to go through all suffering. In summary, the pattern of health seeking behavior in oral cancer patients was concordance to the meaning of oral cancer given by patients themselves. The multiple curing system combining both modern medicine and local curing strategies will give the best benefit for oral cancer patients' quality of life improvement.