Resilience levels, associated factors, and their correlation with serum neurotransmitter levels in patients with gastric cancer

BACKGROUND Although the pathogenesis and management of gastric cancer (GC) have made significant progress, patient prognosis remains unsatisfactory. Patients’ psychological well-being should also be prioritized in addition to their physical health. AIM To investigate resilience among GC patients, identify determinants, and examine its association with serum neurotransmitters (NTs). METHODS We recruited 141 GC cases (research group) and 120 healthy individuals (control group). Surveys were conducted for all participants, encompassing the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (for resilience assessment), the Medical Coping Modes Questionnaire (for coping strategy evaluation), the General Self-Efficacy Scale (for self-efficacy quantification), and the Self-Rating Anxiety Scale/Self-Rating Depression Scale (for emotional distress measurement). Analyses were then conducted to identify inter-group differences in serum NTs, to pinpoint correlations between NTs and resilience (via Spearman’s test), and to determine resilience-associated predictors (using multivariate analysis). RESULTS The group scored 65.44 ± 6.97 (mean) on the global Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (tenacity: 34.70 ± 5.32, self-improvement: 21.13 ± 3.91, optimism: 99.61 ± 1.40). Regarding coping styles, the confrontation, avoidance, and resignation dimension scores were 17.45 ± 1.56, 17.22 ± 1.47, and 10.01 ± 1.08, respectively. The mean self-efficacy score (General Self-Efficacy Scale) was 27.00 ± 3.74. GC cases exhibited reduced serum dopamine, 5-hydroxytryptamine, and norepinephrine than controls (P < 0.05). As to resilience-associated predictors, males, higher education, and greater per capita monthly income were all independently linked to higher resilience, while elevated anxiety/depressive symptoms and advanced-stage cancer showed an inverse correlation with resilience. CONCLUSION Reduced resilience and serum NTs, with the two being strongly correlated, are common in GC patients. Clinically, targeted psychological support is critical, particularly for those at-risk populations (e.g. , females, lower socioeconomic status, limited education).