title: Hope in Iranian cancer patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Hope is an important factor in the recovery of cancer patients. Few Iranian studies investigated the level of hope in cancer patients. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the level of hope in Iranian cancer patients and the related factors.
  
  
  METHODS
  In a descriptive correlational study, 150 cancer patients were selected by a consecutive sampling method. Hope in patients was measured by the Herth Hope Index. Data analysis was performed using descriptive and inferential statistics.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Results indicated that 61.1% of the patients had high levels of hope, 35.4% had moderate levels of hope, and 3.5% had low levels of hope. Hope has a statistically significant relationship with family support, but it is not statistically associated with other patient characteristics.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Many cancer patients had a high level of hope. However, further studies are recommended to investigate the relation between hope and patient characteristics.
authors: Lecturer, Department of Medical-Surgical Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
authors: Farahnaz
authors: F
authors: Abdullah-Zadeh
authors: Shima
authors: S
authors: Agahosseini
authors: Iraj
authors: I
authors: Asvadi-Kermani
authors: Azad
authors: A
authors: Rahmani
keywords: Cancer; oncology; patients