Chemotherapy’s effectiveness linked with Social interaction
Chemotherapy’s effectiveness linked with Social interaction: New research suggests that social interaction may have a positive effect on a person’s chance of survival after being treated for cancer.
Lienert and colleagues were interested in investigating “co-presence in a chemotherapy ward,” so they created a network of patients that could co-inhabit such a ward. Lienert and team considered the total amount of time that the patients spent in each other’s company.
Lienert explains the methodology of the study, saying, “We had information on when patients checked in and out of the chemotherapy ward, a small intimate space where people could see and interact for a long period of time.”
“We used ‘time spent getting chemotherapy in a room with others’ as a proxy for social connection,” Lienert adds.
The study found that being in the company of, and interacting with, patients who survived cancer for at least 5 years after completing the treatment led to an increase in survival rate. However, when they interacted with patients who survived for at least 5 years, their odds of dying dropped to 68 percent. The scientists compared these outcomes against what they determined to be the survival chances of a cancer patient in isolation, and they concluded that social interaction made up for a 2 percent increase in survival odds. Although the study is observational, and the scientists cannot explain causality, they speculate that human response to stress may play a key role. An excessive buildup of stress hormones such as adrenaline may lower one’s chances of survival, Lienert hypothesizes, and social interaction may help to relieve that stress.
The author also emphasizes the importance of providing social support for people undergoing chemotherapy, saying that the impact of social interaction with hospital visitors would most likely prove to be just as beneficial as interacting with fellow patients. “Positive social support during the exact moments of greatest stress is crucial. If you have a friend with cancer, keeping him or her company during chemotherapy probably will help reduce their stress. The impact is likely to be as effective, and possibly more effective, than cancer patients interacting with other cancer patients,” he concludes.
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