Psychological adjustment to glioblastoma multiforme in adults v1.0
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Psychological processes of adjustment to glioblastoma multiforme in adults: An exploratory qualitative study
IRAS ID
143080
Contact name
Paul D Baker
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Manchester
Research summary
Although relatively uncommon compared to other tumours, brain tumours are a devastating form of cancer that affect men and women of all ages. The most common form of brain tumour, glioblastoma multiforme, is also the most serious, with patients living for an average of 15 months after they are diagnosed. During this time, patients may experience symptoms such as extreme tiredness, movement difficulties, seizures, personality changes, and problems with their memory, speech and thinking. The side effects of the treatment patients receive for their cancer can make these problems seem worse.
Being diagnosed with any type cancer can be very traumatic and force people to make significant changes to their lives. There is some research on how people with cancer make sense of these changes but, as brain tumours are very different to other types of cancer, little is known about their experiences. This study aims to interview patients receiving treatment for glioblastoma multiforme to find out how they are trying to make sense of the changes to their lives. It is hoped that knowing more about this may help health professionals support future patients.
We will interview 14 patients separately and ask them about their experiences so far. When selecting whom to approach about the study, we will try and chose patients who are coping both well and poorly. Before being interviewed, we will ask patients to complete some short questionnaires about their current mood and problems. We will interview the participants three months after their diagnosis, when they will be between treatments and will have recently met with their specialist nurse. The interviews will be digitally recorded and we will try and find patterns, similarities and differences in their responses.
REC name
North West - Greater Manchester East Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/NW/0081
Date of REC Opinion
20 Feb 2014
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion