Background: Serpentine Supravenous Hyperpigmentation (SSH) is a rare adverse side effect in cancer patients after receiving chemotherapy. Disfigurement of skin may affect the patients’ feeling, behaviors, and thoughts, which may then impact their daily living and body image.
Objective: To predict factors affecting body image of Thai cancer patients with Serpentine supravenous hyperpigmentation.
Material and Method: This cross-sectional research involved 80 cancer patients with SSH who received chemotherapy at Vajira hospital from November 2020 to January 2021. Three instruments were used: 1) personal information, disease and treatment questionnaires, 2) a Serpentine Supravenous Hyperpigmentation Distress Scale (SSH - Distress Scale) developed by the principal investigator and colleagues from the literature review, and 3) a Body Image Scale (BIS), developed by Hopwood and colleagues (2001). Alpha Cronbach’s coefficient for the SSH - Distress Scale was .86; and the Body Image Scale was .94. Data was analyzed by descriptive statistics and multiple regression using enters technique.
Results: Results showed that types of cancer (b = -2.380, p = 0.023), and distress from SSH (b = 0.923 p < 0.001) could predict body image 52.9%, whereas gender and age could not predict the body image in cancer patients who had SSH from chemotherapy.
Conclusion: Results from the study can be used as evidence to provide nursing care to help reduce distress and promote body image satisfaction in cancer patients from SSH. This could lead to an improvement in the quality of life in Thai cancer patients with SSH.
