Abstract of Dissertation Presented to the Graduate
School of the University of Florida in Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy


 CANCER DEATHS IN THE AGED:
 PSYCHOSOCIAL AND DISEASE VARIABLES

 By

 Laura Rose Cason

 August 1985

Chairperson: Hannelore L. Wass
Major Department: Foundations of Education

 Relationships between psychosocial variables and the

survival of elderly cancer patients were explored. Thirty

patients, age 60 and above, with terminal cancer of the

lung, breast, or rectocolon were interviewed to elicit a

broad range of information regarding attitudes, moods,

social support, and socioeconomic status. Variability in

survival due to the effects of disease and medical variables

was controlled by using a value of relative survival in the

analysis that was based on a comparison of expected survival

and observed survival.

 The survival expectations were determined through a

series of regression analyses of biological, medical, and

disease information on deceased cancer patients including

266 cases of lung cancer, 101 cases of breast cancer, and

166 cases of rectocolon cancer. The predictor variables

included in the exploratory analysis were age, sex, race,


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