The Impact of Post-Cancer Treatment Health Examinations on Individuals: A Mİxed-Methods Study

Objective : The aim of this study is to determine the effects of health checks performed on individuals after cancer treatment. Methods: The study was designed as a mixed method based on cross-sectional, descriptive, quantitative and qualitative approaches. After obtaining the approval of the ethics committee and the necessary permissions, the study was conducted between December 1, 2023 and December 30, 2023 with individuals who applied to the Istanbul University Oncology Institute outpatient clinic. Personal Information Form, Semi-Structured Interview Form and Mood Profile Scale were used as data collection tools. SPSS (IBM SPSS Statistics 24) package program was used for statistical analyses, and Nvivo 8 program was used for the qualitative part. Results: As a result of content analyses, 2 main themes and 18 sub-themes were determined. It was determined that the types of examinations that affected individuals the most were tomography (31.6%) and blood tests (23.7%). When the participants' Mood Profile Scale scores were examined, it was determined that the average was 48.605±42.351 and the scores varied between -10 and 157. In general, the research findings reported that variables such as age, gender, marital status, education level, employment status and smoking had statistically significant effects on Mood Profile scores (p<0.05). Conclusions: As a result, it was determined that individuals should be supported in every way because cancer has not only physiological but also social and psychological effects on individuals. It has become clear that scientific studies in this field are insufficient and that more evidence-based studies need to be conducted.