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The Experience of Hopelessness in a Population of Greek Cancer Patients Receiving Palliative Care

Pain Relief and Palliative Care Unit, Department of Radiology, Areteion Hospital, School of Medicine, University of Athens, mistakidou{at}yahoo.com

Efi Parpa

Pain Relief and Palliative Care Unit, Department of Radiology, Areteion Hospital, School of Medicine, University of Athens

Eleni Tsilika

Pain Relief and Palliative Care Unit, Department of Radiology, Areteion Hospital, School of Medicine, University of Athens

Maria Pathiaki

Pain Relief and Palliative Care Unit, Department of Radiology, Areteion Hospital, School of Medicine, University of Athens

Ioanna Hatzipli

Pain Relief and Palliative Care Unit, Department of Radiology, Areteion Hospital, School of Medicine, University of Athens

Antonis Galanos

Pain Relief and Palliative Care Unit, Department of Radiology, Areteion Hospital, School of Medicine, University of Athens

Lambros Vlahos

Radiology Department, Areteion Hospital, School of Medicine, University of Athens

Background: Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS) has been translated and validated in many languages.

Aim: The validation of the English version of BHS in advanced cancer patients receiving palliative treatment in Greece.

Methods: The final sample was 112 advanced cancer patients. Internal consistency, item-total correlations, and test—retest using four different approaches were calculated for the assessment of the reliability. Construct validity was used by examining correlations between BHS, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HAD-Depression) and the Schedule of Attitudes toward Hastened Death (SAHD). Known-groups validity was also assessed by detecting group differences according to disease severity as measured by the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status. Univariate and multivariate analyses were constructed to explore the relationship between hopelessness, depression, hastened death and the patients' demographic and clinical characteristics.

Results: One factor solution was yielded accounted for 46.64% of the variance. The test—retest reliability was satisfactory (p < 0.0005). Validity as performed using known-group analysis showed good results. Most significant correlations were found between BHS, ECOG (p = 0.018) and gender (p = 0.08). The strongest predictors were gender (p = 0.050) and ECOG (p = 0.045).

Conclusions: BHS seemed to be a useful instrument to assess pessimistic attitude and hopelessness in a Greek cancer population, with valid psychometric properties.

Key Words: hopelessness • palliative care • depression • hastened death • Greece

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