Does Presence of an Intimate Friend has an Effect on the Level of Psychological Distress of Female Cardiovascular and Cancer Patients? An Analytical Study

Abstract

The study was taken up to probe whether the presence of an intimate friend has a significant impact on the level of psychological distress of female cardiovascular and cancer patients. The sample for the present study consisted of 225 women from Kerala, which consist of 75 cardiovascular (cvd) patients, 75 cancer patients selected using purposive sampling technique from the various hospitals across Kerala and a comparative group of 75 normals selected from the general population. The findings indicate that cvd patients categorized on the basis of presence of an intimate friend differed significantly in their level of stress and total psychological distress.Cvd patients who had an intimate friend have significantly lower level of stress and total psychological distress than who do not have an intimate friend. Cancer patients categorized on the basis of presence of an intimate friend showed no significant differences in their level of depression, anxiety, stress and total psychological distress.