A study to assess the efficacy of activity therapy on stress among patients with cancer at selected cancer hospital in Chennai

Abstract

The study was aimed to evaluate the efficacy of activity therapy on stress among patients with cancer at selected hospitals in Chennai. A pre-experimental one-group pretest post-test design was used to conduct the study with 30 samples, selected by purposive sampling technique from a selected hospital. The data was collected by using Part1 demographic data and part II with standardized perceived stress scale developed by Sheldon Cohen in 1983 consisting of 14 questionnaire. A planned activity therapy like drawing, coloring, join the numbers, games like puzzles, spot the difference, snake and ladder were given to the cancer patients on daily basis for 14 days. On the final day of intervention, post-test stress level score was obtained using the same scale. The pre-test revealed that, the mean stress score was 18.73, with a standard deviation of 1.84. In post-test, there was a significant increase in the mean stress score to 48.77, accompanied by a standard deviation of 2.08, which shows the reduction of stress after the activity therapy to the cancer patient. The paired t-test was conducted to determine the significance of this change in stress levels. The t-value was calculated to be 71.625, which was found to be statistically significant with a p-value of 0.000, indicating a highly significant difference in stress levels before and after the activity therapy. The result of this study can be used as alternative therapy to reduce the stress among cancer patients.