Abstract:

Objective To study subjective well-being，social support and their relationship in elderly patients with prostate cancer. Methods A total of 200 elderly patients with prostate cancer admitted for uropoiesis surgical treatment from August 2014 to August 2015 filled out a happiness index scale，social support rating scale，and a custom-designed general questionnaire. Results The subjective well-being score of elderly patients was 7.05±3.48，and the social support score was 28.75±4.37. Subjective well-being and social support scores varied significantly with different disease progression，culture，marital status and number of hospitalizations（P<0.05）. Correlations were observed among social support，subjective support，objective support，social support utilization（three dimensions），subjective well-being，total emotion index and life satisfaction（P<0.001）. Total score for social support correlated with subjective well-being score（r=0.834，P<0.001）. Conclusion Subjective well-being and social support scores were low for elderly patients with prostate cancer. Subjective well-being in these patients strongly correlated with social support. Health care workers and their families should pay more attention to providing social support to such patients and helping them expand their social support system in order to improve their subjective well-being and prolong their quality of life.

Key words: Prostatic neoplasm, Elderly patient, Subjective well-being, Social support, Correlation