Assessment of fear of recurrence in cancer patients in the follow-up phase of the Juan Ramón Jiménez University Hospital in Huelva.

Source: PubMed, NCBI / U.S. National Library of Medicine

To describe the levels of fear of recurrence in cancer patients in the follow-up phase. Cross-sectional descriptive study carried out from June 2023 to February 2024. A sample of 315 adult patients with a diagnosis of non-metastatic cancer in the process of follow-up at least 6 months after the end of active treatment, seen in the oncology department of the Juan Ramón Jiménez University Hospital in Huelva, was included. The FCR7-SP questionnaire was used to measure fear of recurrence. Permission was obtained from the Provincial Ethics Committee. Data analysis was performed using SPSS software v.29.0.1.0. An average score of 26.5 out of 35 points was observed on the FCR7-SP scale, suggesting a moderate level of fear. Mean age was 57.91 years (SD ± 11.80). The most frequent cancer was breast cancer (63%) followed by mostly stage II colorectal cancer (20%). There is a statistically significant relationship between fear of recurrence and gender, nationality, treatment and type of cancer. Five cut-off points of the FCR7-SP scale are proposed based on the percentiles obtained. The level of fear of recurrence in cancer patients in the follow-up phase at the Juan Ramón Jiménez University Hospital in Huelva is moderate. It is essential to identify the factors that influence the level of fear of recurrence in order to design preventive interventions and/or an early approach.