Posttraumatic Growth and its Dimensions in Patients with Cancer

Background: physical and psychological stresses produced by diagnosis andtreatment of cancer can lead to positive psychological changes or posttraumaticgrowth. the aim of current study is to assess posttraumatic growth and its dimensionsin iranian patients with cancer, and the impact of demographic characteristics onposttraumatic growth. methods: this was a descriptive study on 452 patients with cancer who referredto the oncology wards of two main hospitals in tehran, iran. the instruments were thedemographic characteristics scale and the posttraumatic growth inventory. spssversion 15 was used to analyze the data. results: the mean age of participants was 46.2±14.2 years, 59% were female and39% had metastatic cancer. the mean ptgi score of the participants was 68.6±14.6.the most acquired percentage of score was for spiritual changes and communicationwith others. age, educational status, income, and type of cancer had significantcorrelation with posttraumatic growth score. conclusion: the findings of the current study indicated that the score of posttraumaticgrowth in iranian patients with cancer was higher than in patients of western societies.the most improvement was seen in the spiritual changes dimension.