Quality of Life Research, 7, pp. 495–500 © 1998 Kluwer Academic Publishers Quality of Life Research . Vol 7 . 1998 495 Psychological well-being among cancer patients receiving radiotherapy – a prospective study P. S. Chandra,* S. K. Chaturvedi, S. M. Channabasavanna, N. Anantha, B. K. M. Reddy, S. Sharma and S. Rao Departments of Psychiatry (P.S. Chandra, S.K. Chaturvedi, S.M. Channabasavanna) and Biostatistics (S. Rao), National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bangalore, India; Department of Radiotherapy, Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology, Bangalore, India (N. Anantha, B.K.M. Reddy, S. Sharma) The impact of cancer on the psychological well-being of newly diagnosed cancer patients before and during the course of radiotherapy was assessed in 70 consecutive cancer patients. Most of the patients were over 40 years of age, women, illiterate and from a lower socioeconomic group. During the course of treatment there was a decrease in the well-being scores on some dimensions such as perceived family and primary group support. Improvements were seen in the dimensions of positive feelings, coping, social support other than the family and spiritual well-being. There were no changes in the dimensions of negative feelings and perceived ill-health. The results give a profile on well-being and the changes observed during radiotherapy. Qual. Life Res. 7:495–500 © 1998 Kluwer Academic Publishers Key words: Well-being; radiotherapy; quality of life. Introduction The importance of issues related to quality of life (QoL) in cancer and its treatment is being increasingly recognized. One measure of QoL is the person's psychological well-being. Well-being is a measure of a state and changes periodically based on internal coping mechanisms and interactions with the outside world. Bech 1 emphasized that any measure of QoL concerned with health status should include an assessment of multiple domains. He emphasized the PCASEE axes, which measure the physical, cognitive, affective and social aspects with economy and ego functions as additional measures for a comprehensive evaluation of QoL in illnesses. 2 It is evident from the literature on studies of QoL in cancer that the ideal way of assessing QoL is to evolve measures for all dimensions of life rather than focusing on purely physical and health-related concerns. 3,4 Hence, the tools used to measure QoL have to include physical, psychological, social and spiritual domains. 5–7 It may also be better not to view QoL mainly in negative terms, as any change in the life of a person may bring about both positive and negative coping patterns and the former also need to be studied. 6,7 Rather than being merely a cross-sectional measure, QoL in cancer patients is important in assessing changes over the course of the illness and changes with treatment. 8,9 QoL at onset or at the initial diagnosis may be different compared to life concerns in the middle phase or at the termination of treatment. Through the illness–treatment–recovery path, patients may have to reappraise their life domains, their goals and plans may have to be reviewed and their satis- faction with life themes may alter. More importantly, different degrees of resignation or coming to terms with the illness may influence perceptions of QoL rather than the more objective and measurable aspects which may have important implications in inter- vention and psychosocial management. 10–13 The aim of the current study was to assess life concerns and satisfaction as measured by subjective well-being in cancer patients undergoing radio- therapy. A prospective study design was used for the purpose and the patients were followed up from the time of diagnosis until termination of treatment. Method The study included 70 patients diagnosed as having cancer and requiring radiotherapy. The patients were *To whom correspondence should be addressed at Department of Psychiatry, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bangalore, 560029, India. Fax: 91-80- 6631830; email: chandra@nimhans.ren.nic.in