Perceptions of Cancer Patients by Diagnosis and Gender

Abstract

This study describes differences between subjects' perceptions of male and female cancer patients and gender vs. non-gender specific cancer patients. Ninety-seven subjects (17 male and 80 female, mean age = 25.7) read a vignette about a hypothetical cancer patient then completed the Profile of Mood States-Short Form (POMS-SF), the Perception of Medical Patients Questionnaire (PMPQ), and provided basic demographic information (gender, age, area of study, and family history of cancer). Notable findings resulting from ANOVA contrast groupings were that lymphoma patients were perceived as less likely to survive (p=.002} and less likely to be embarrassed about their illness (p=.022) than breast or prostate cancer patients. Also male patients were viewed as more at fault for their illness (lymphoma p=.022, prostate p=.038).