Differences in mental burden faced by different cancer patients: A study of Nepal

In our study we have made an attempt to hold personal interviews with randomly selected 600 cancer patients and 200 control patients from five different hospitals of Nepal. From our preliminary analysis, we found that Lung cancer and Breast cancer are the most common types of cancers faced by male and female population respectively. Cancer patients face higher economic burden and coupled with lack of health insurance leads them to rely on aggressive means of payments such as borrowing and selling of properties to finance treatment. In relation to the control group of patients, cancer patients face a significantly higher amount of disease specific mental burden. We took an in-depth analysis of cervical cancer patients in relation to breast cancer, all other female cancers, and all male cancer patients. Propensity score matching results indicate that cervical cancer patients in relation to other categories mentioned above face a significantly higher mental burden. One way of surviving through the disease is the social support that patients receive from close relatives and society. This helps in the recovery process specially of those patients who feel stigmatized and embarrassed in public and are at a higher risk of harming themselves due to the burden of cancer.