The Relation of Ideology of Positive Thinking with the Perception of Cancer Risk and Ways of Treating It in Medellin, Colombia

The Relation of Ideology of Positive Thinking with the Perception of Cancer Risk and Ways of Treating It in Medellin, Colombia

Blog Article

Luis Felipe Higuita-Gutiérrez,1,2 Diego Alejandro Estrada-Mesa,1 Jaiberth Antonio Cardona-Arias2 1Faculty of Medicine, Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia, Medellín, Colombia; 2School of Ship Model Kit Microbiology, Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín, ColombiaCorrespondence: Luis Felipe Higuita-Gutiérrez, Tel +57 312 774 52 56, Email luis.higuita@campusucc.edu.coPurpose: This study has the following objectives: i) to construct an instrument to measure positive thinking ideology (PTI) regarding cancer, and to evaluate its psychometric properties, ii) to describe the effects of PTI on cancer risk and its treatment, and iii) to identify the associated factors with PTI in the study group.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 611 people from the Medellin, Colombia.

Participants were selected through stratified sampling with proportional assignment.A survey with three constructs was applied: the role of negative emotions in cancer etiology, cancer as a redeeming event, and the effects of PTI in cancer treatment.Results: In negative emotions construct 47% considered that holding anger, resentment, and hatred represent a moderate or high risk of generating cancer.In redeeming power construct 46.5% found that cancer is a battle that the best warriors win.

Concerning the treatment, 77.3% considered that facing the disease with a fighting spirit had a moderate to high positive effect in response to the treatment.The associated factors with PTI were reading self-help books and education level.Conclusion: The results show that PTI affects perceptions about the cancer, its etiology and treatment.This effect is greater in undereducated people Rolling Trays and in self-help book readers.

The instrument showed excellent reliability, internal consistency, discriminating power, content, and construct validity properties.Keywords: the ideology of positive thinking, cancer, perception of cancer risk, structural equation modeling, psychometrics.