Latent profile analysis of spousal information concealment in patients with cancer: A cross-sectional study

Objective: This study aimed to investigate spousal information concealment in patients with cancer and analyse its influencing factors. Methods: Between April and July 2024, 371 spouses of patients with cancer were surveyed using the Demographic and Clinical Characteristics Questionnaire, the Information Concealment Scale for Caregivers, Fear of Progression Questionnaires for Partners, and the Medical Coping Modes Questionnaire. Influencing factors were analysed using latent profile analysis. Results: Based on the degree of information concealment, spouses of patients with cancer were categorised into three subgroups: the low concealment - low control (19.14%), medium concealment (50.40%), and high concealment - high dissimulation group (30.46%). Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that sex, age, educational level, disease stage, fear of disease progression, and medical coping modes were the influencing factors of the information concealment subgroups (P<0.05). Conclusions: Information concealment among spouses of patients with cancer has individualized characteristics. Analysing the demographics, disease features, and psychological conditions of spouses in different information concealment subgroups can help medical staff formulate more targeted and personalized interventions and reduce the degree of information concealment among patients'spouses.