Introduction

Cancer is perceived as one of the most stressful diseases, which leads to cognitive, emotional, and behavioural changes. Adapting to the disease is a process of adopting a strategy and style of coping with the disease that mobilises patients to struggle with the disease, and this affects their quality of life. Aim of the study: Assessment of the psychological functioning of people diagnosed with cancer and their adaptation to functioning in society.

Material and methods

: The study involved 100 patients treated surgically, including colorectal cancer (50%) and breast cancer (50%), in four clinical hospitals in Łódź. The research tools were as follows: the authors’ own demographic survey on sociodemographic variables and the Mini-MAC scale. Statistical analysis was performed using the U Mann-Whitney, Kruskal-Wallis, and c2 tests. The relationships were considered statistically significant when p < 0.05.

Results

The study involved 28 men and 72 women, of whom 50 were women after mastectomy and 22 were women with a stoma. Over half (56%) were professionally active. Most respondents (56%) were diagnosed a year ago. When examining demographic data, no significant correlations were found. A statistically significant difference was shown only between the place of residence and level of education, and coping strategy. Demographic factors also had a modest impact on coping styles. A significant correlation was observed when examining the place of residence and level of education.

Conclusions

: In patients with intestinal stoma, as well as women after mastectomy, in their strategy of coping with cancer, they prefer a fighting spirit and positive re-evaluation. Most of the respondents had a constructive style. A destructive style was slightly more common in people living in rural areas. Slightly lower results of helplessness-hopelessness were obtained by respondents with general secondary education.