The degree of social difficulties experienced by cancer patients and their spouses

BMC Palliative Care

Table 3 Differences in difficulty between the patients and spouses (patients, n = 259; spouses, n = 259)

	Patients		Spouses
	M	SD	M	SD	t	p
1. Difficulty in performing activities of daily living	2.14	.74	1.80	.66	5.48	.00^*
2. Difficulty in seeking expert advice on the disease state and treatment	1.87	.82	1.82	.68	.75	.45
3. Complaint with health care providers	1.89	.81	1.71	.66	2.67	.01^*
4. Lack of information on treatment and disease state	1.99	.80	1.76	.70	3.40	.00^*
5. Lack of information on self-care	2.02	.86	1.77	.76	3.45	.00^*
6. Conflict over family relationships	1.88	.82	1.72	.70	2.36	.02^*
7. Concerns for family members	2.04	.80	1.86	.70	2.72	.01^*
8. Difficulty in planning life	2.04	.85	1.78	.76	3.67	.00^*
9. Conflict over relationships with non-family members	1.92	.82	1.71	.79	3.03	.00^*
10. Difficulty in adapting to changes in the social environment	2.05	.80	1.68	.73	5.46	.00^*
11. Lack of local support services	2.08	.92	1.81	.84	3.47	.00^*
12. Difficulty in solving work-related issues	1.84	.85	1.67	.73	2.41	.02^*
13. Difficulty in making financial arrangements	2.16	.90	1.87	.81	3.86	.00^*
14. Lack of information on welfare services available during treatment	1.80	.91	1.63	.76	2.31	.02^*

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