Selected Personal Factors as Predictors of Quality of Life of Cancer Patients in Southwestern Nigeria

The incidence of cancer across the globe has shown that the disease is a leading cause of death worldwide; and it accounted for 7.6 million deaths, which is about 13% of all deaths in 2018. Also, deaths from cancer worldwide are projected to be rising, with an estimated 12 million deaths in 2030. In spite of the efforts of stakeholders to control the prevalence and incidence of cancer, there still increase in reported cases of cancer incidence in Nigeria. Previous studies mainly focused on psychological and social variables as they affect cancer and cancer patients; while little concentration was made on personal factors of age, gender, marital and employment status in relation to quality of life of cancer patients, particularly in Nigeria. This study, therefore, examined personal factors as predictors of quality of life of cancer patients in Southwestern Nigeria. The study adopted descriptive survey design of correlational type. The population for this study consisted of all the diagnosed cancer patients who are attending clinics in the South West of Nigeria. Purposive sampling technique was employed to select 312 patients who were willing and able to participate in the study. A validated questionnaire was used for data collection; which yielded a reliability value of 0.88. Data were analyzed using frequency counts and percentages for demographic characteristics, while multiple linear regression was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 alpha level. There was a significant joint prediction of personal factors on quality of life of cancer patients in Southwestern Nigeria (F(4,307)=101.078; p 0.05), gender (β=0.537, pu003e0.05), employment status (β=0.236, pu003e0.05) and marital status (β=0.242, pu003e0.05) independently had no significant prediction on quality of life of cancer patients in Southwestern Nigeria. There was a significant joint prediction of personal factors on quality of life of cancer patients in Southwestern Nigeria. It was also concluded that age, gender, employment and marital status independently had no significant prediction on quality of life of cancer patients in the study area.