Introduction: Patients newly diagnosed with lung cancer experience a high symptom burden associated with the disease and are frequently diagnosed at advanced stages. Social support is an important resource for coping with the demands associated with the disease and its treatment. In this context, the Medical Outcomes Study Social Support Survey (MOS-SSS) is one of the most widely used instruments for assessing perceived social support. Aim: To examine the factorial structure, internal consistency, and measurement invariance of a 10-item brief version of the MOS Social Support Survey (MOS-10) in a Mexican sample of patients newly diagnosed with lung cancer. Methods: A non-experimental instrumental study was conducted using non-probability convenience sampling. The sample comprised 200 patients newly diagnosed with lung cancer. An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was performed, followed by a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) in the same sample. A sensitivity analysis using diagonally weighted least squares (DWLS) based on a polychoric correlation matrix was also conducted. Measurement invariance across sex and age groups was examined, and internal consistency was estimated using Cronbach’s alpha and McDonald’s omega. Results: The EFA identified a two-factor structure, Emotional/Informational/Affective Support and Tangible Support, which explained 69.55% of the variance. After CFA re-specification, a 10-item solution with satisfactory fit indices was obtained. The DWLS sensitivity analysis showed an overall factorial pattern consistent with that obtained using maximum likelihood estimation, although its fit indices should be interpreted cautiously given the estimation procedure used. Internal consistency was high for the total score (α = 0.92; ω = 0.93) and adequate for both dimensions. Evidence supported configural, metric, and scalar invariance across sex, whereas configural invariance was supported across age groups but full metric invariance was not established. Conclusion: The MOS-10 showed satisfactory evidence of factorial validity and internal consistency in this sample of Mexican patients newly diagnosed with lung cancer. However, the factorial structure should be cross-validated in an independent sample, and further studies are needed to examine temporal stability, convergent, discriminant, and criterion-related validity, responsiveness, and clinically meaningful score interpretation.
Objective: To analyze experiences related to compassion fatigue (CF) among oncology healthcare professionals in Metropolitan Lima. Method: A qualitative study was conducted using ten semi-structured interviews with physicians, nurses, and psychologists working in oncology care. Interviews were transcribed and examined through predominantly inductive thematic analysis, theoretically informed by Stamm’s professional quality of life model. Results: Four themes were identified: contextual conditions of the care environment, manifestations associated with CF, coping and self-regulation resources, and experiences that sustain professional engagement. Participants described organizational constraints, physical and emotional exhaustion, feelings of helplessness, and memories of patients that persisted beyond the clinical setting. They also identified self-care, regulation of emotional involvement, support from colleagues, and the meaning attributed to their work as resources for coping with the demands of caregiving. Conclusions: Participants’ accounts reveal experiences of strain within oncology care that coexist with coping resources and positive caregiving experiences. The findings suggest the value of promoting professional well-being through individual and organizational measures. The study design does not allow the presence or severity of CF to be established, the effectiveness of the identified resources to be demonstrated, or professional experience to be shown to reduce strain.
