2Department of Pediatric Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Akdeniz University, Ankara-Turkey DOI : 10.5505/tjo.2018.1788 OBJECTIVE
To more fully explore how the parents of childhood cancer patients perceive the causes of their disease.
METHODS
This cross-sectional study included 229 parents of children with cancer who were admitted at one of
the largest children"s hematology and oncology clinics in Ankara, Turkey. The parents completed the
causal representations subscale of the Illness Perception Questionnaire. Analyses of variance and other
descriptive tests were performed.
RESULTS
The most common causal attributions were a function of the Risk Factors Subscale (M=2.94) pertaining
to diet and eating disorders. The answers to the open-ended questions indicated that the most significant
issue in their children"s disease was faith-based, the will of God, and the "evil eye" (43.9%). The mean
scores on the subscale did not vary by parental, marital, educational status, region of residence, or time
of diagnosis; there was only a significant difference based on income level and age.
CONCLUSION
Parents responding in a self-report on the causal representations subscale suggested that most risk factors
involved more fatalistic views, which were due to societal differences. This is important for clinicians,
who plan and implement education and treatment, to better understand parents" perceptions
regarding cancer. Our findings highlight the need for more attention to these cultural matters in cancer
care.