en پرستاری پرستاری پژوهشی اصیل Original Article <span style="text-justify:kashida"><span style="text-kashida:0%"><span style="line-height:105%"><span style="unicode-bidi:embed"><b><i><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="line-height:105%"><span chaparral="" pro="" style="font-family:"><span style="color:#003399">Background</span></span></span></span></i></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="line-height:105%"><span chaparral="" pro="" style="font-family:"><span style="color:black"><span style="letter-spacing:-.5pt">: One of the main causes of stress in patients with cancer is fear of disease progression (FoP). This study aimed to determine the relationship between fear of disease progression, social support, and hospital anxiety and depression in elderly patients with cancer.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br> <span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-justify:kashida"><span style="text-kashida:0%"><span style="tab-stops:2.5in"><span style="unicode-bidi:embed"><span style="line-height:107%"><span calibri="" style="font-family:"><b><i><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span chaparral="" pro="" style="font-family:"><span style="color:#003399">Methods</span></span></span></span></i></b><b><span chaparral="" pro="" style="font-family:"><span style="color:#003399">:</span></span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span chaparral="" pro="" style="font-family:"><span style="color:black"><span style="letter-spacing:-.5pt"> In this descriptive-analytical study, 165 elderly patients with cancer were selected by simple random sampling in Babol, Iran, in 2021. Data were collected using a demographic questionnaire, the Fear of Disease Progression Short Form questionnaire (FoP-Q-SF), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), the Social Support Appraisals Scale (SS-AS), and the Abbreviated Mental Test (AMT). Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS version 26.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> <pre style="text-align:justify"> <span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="line-height:115%"><span courier="" new="" style="font-family:"><b><i><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="line-height:115%"><span chaparral="" pro="" style="font-family:"><span style="color:#003399">Results</span></span></span></span></i></b><b><span chaparral="" pro="" style="font-family:"><span style="color:#003399">:</span></span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="line-height:115%"><span chaparral="" pro="" style="font-family:"><span style="color:black"><span style="letter-spacing:-.5pt"> The mean total FoP score was 31.64 &plusmn; 13.93, indicating a low level of fear of disease progression. Overall, 44.2% of the patients had high FoP, whereas 55.8% had low FoP. The mean social support score was 16.43 &plusmn; 5.92 (high), the mean hospital anxiety score was 6.96 &plusmn; 0.43 (healthy), and the mean hospital depression score was 7.09 &plusmn; 0.46 (mild). FoP was significantly and negatively correlated with social support (r = &minus;0.503, P = 0.01) and significantly and positively correlated with hospital anxiety (r = 0.749, P < 0.01) and hospital depression (r = 0.772, P < 0.01).</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></pre> <b><i><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span chaparral="" pro="" style="font-family:"><span style="color:#003399">Conclusion</span></span></span></span></i><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span chaparral="" pro="" style="font-family:"><span style="color:#003399">:</span></span></span></span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span chaparral="" pro="" style="font-family:"><span style="color:black"><span style="letter-spacing:-.5pt">&nbsp; The findings suggest that promoting social support and reducing anxiety and depression may help decrease FoP in elderly patients with cancer. These findings may provide a basis for developing and implementing effective interventions for this population.</span></span></span></span></span> Fear, Disease Progression, Social Support, Anxiety, Depression, Elderly, Cancer 76 64 http://crms.mubabol.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-289-1&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Narjes Kharestani kharestanynarjes@gmail.com 10031947532846002962 0009-0005-0824-3247 No Nursing care reasearch center, Ramsar nursing and midwifery school, Babol university of medical sciences, Babol, I.R.Iran. Hengameh Karimi hengamehkarimister@gmail.com 10031947532846002963 10031947532846002963 Yes Nursing care reasearch center, Ramsar nursing and midwifery school, Babol university of medical sciences, Babol, I.R.Iran. Fateme Shirinkam shirinkam_fateme@yahoo.com 10031947532846002964 10031947532846002964 No Nursing care reasearch center, Ramsar nursing and midwifery school, Babol university of medical sciences, Babol, I.R.Iran. Mohsen Vakili Sadeghi mvakili89@gmail.com 10031947532846002965 10031947532846002965 No Cancer Research Center, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran