Abstract
We applied the Profile of Mood States (POMS) to twelve cancer patients and eighteen non-cancer patients to investigate their changes in mood before and after surgery.
We analyzed POMS by six factors-tension, depression, anger, vigor, fatigue, and confusion. As a result, the points of three factors-tension, depression and confusion-decreased and the point of vigor increased remarkably after surgery among non-cancer patients. Among cancer patients, all the factors showed no remarkable change during the pre-and postoperative period. The five factors of tension, depression, anger, confusion and fatigue scored high points for the first to the third postoperative-weeks, compared to noncancer patients.
Our study indicates the importance of psychological care for cancer patients during the perioperative period.
