title: Psychosocial needs of low-income people with cancer in Korea.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of the study was to investigate significant psychosocial needs of low-income people with cancer in Korea and the extent to which these needs are unmet and which factors influence them.
  
  
  METHODS
  A descriptive study with a cross-sectional design was used. The data were collected by questionnaires from a convenience sample of 238 low-income people with cancer during 2009. A psychosocial needs inventory consisting of 7 categories with 48 items was used to identify significant psychosocial needs and unmet needs. Unmet psychosocial needs were defined to the needs that the participants reported as both important and unsatisfied. Influencing factors defined with multivariate regression analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  "Health professionals" was the most important needs category, followed by "information. Among the 48 items, 37 were identified to be important or very important by more than 50% of the participants. All 37 important psychosocial needs were also identified to be unmet needs. "Emotional and spiritual" was the most unmet psychosocial needs category, followed by "practical matters" and "identity" categories. The most unmet need item was 'help with financial matters' (50.0%). The strongest influencing factor was 'no one to talk with'.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Low-income people with cancer experience high levels of unmet needs across a wide range of psychosocial needs. They need to be supported not only for practical matters but also for emotional and spiritual areas. The results provide a first step towards a development of interventions tailored to meet psychosocial needs and expectations of low-income people with cancer.
authors.affiliation: College of Nursing, and The Research Institute of Nursing Science, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: donam@snu.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Myungsun
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yi
authors.affiliation: Cancer Risk Appraisal & Prevention Branch, National Cancer Center, Goyang, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Keeho
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: College of Nursing, Gachon University, Incheon, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: parkeunyoung@gachon.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Eun Young
authors.initials: EY
authors.lastname: Park
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015984:Causality; D015897:Comorbidity; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D020380:Needs Assessment; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000451:nursing* / Q000523:psychology*; D011203:Poverty / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012044:Regression Analysis; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D012944:Social Support; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000451:nursing*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Health services needs and demand; Needs assessment; Neoplasms; Nursing; Poverty; Psychosocial distress