Coping styles in patients with testicular cancer treatment and follow-up: INCAN Mexico experience

Introduction: Cancer is one of the main problems of public health in Mexico. Coping with this disease represents an adaptation mechanism or greater dysfunction in the patient who suffer it. The study of testicular cancer patients coping styles has been little studied, even less in Mexico. Objective: Identify and compare coping styles assets and positive employees in patients with testicular cancer in treatment and follow-up period. Methods: Thirty three patients in treatment and 28 in followup, both groups in charge of the service of Medical Oncology of the National Institute of Cancer. It is a cross-sectional retrospective, not experimental, ex-post-facto study. Using the instrument of Lazarus and Folkman (1985) for coping with the stress, translated and adapted for Mexican population. Results: It was not identiied differences in coping styles employed liabilities in both groups of patients. And it was identiied statistically signiicant differences between groups to active styles: targeting the problem and positive revaluation, been higher in the follow-up group. Conclusions: Follow-up patients show avoidance, alternating with troubleshooting behavior before the period of monitoring the disease. The treatment group identiies increased use of associated copying styles liabilities to minimize emotional distress and not solving the problem. Asset strategies that promote active coping styles are required in the speciic group of patients in treatment.