The effects of life events, coping style on the onset of upper digestive tract cancer

Objective: To explore the effects of psychosocial factors including life events and coping style on the onset of upper digestive tract cancer. Methods: A total of 98 patients with upper digestive tract cancer were chosen as experiment group, while 98 healthy persons were chosen as control group, who matched with experiment group in habits, age, sex and education background. Both the two groups were studied by Life Event Scale and Simplified Coping Style Questionnaire. The difference between the contribution of psychosocial factors in the two groups was analyzed. Results: The stimulating amount and frequency of negative life events in experiment group were much higher than those in control group, while those of its positive life events were much lower. The total score of passive coping style in experiment group was higher than that in control group, while the total score of positive coping style was lower. Conclusion: Stress may be one of the etiological factors in causing upper digestive tract cancer, and passive coping style may also be a risk factor for the etiology of upper digestive tract cancer.