Sammanfattning
The aim of the study was to deepen the understanding of the quality of life in a group of Finnish cancer patients by the use of quantitative and qualitative data. For the quantitative description Ferrell and Grant's instrument was used. Altogether 39 patients filled in a questionnaire and 19 of them participated in the qualitative part consisting of semi-structured interviews (n=6) and written narratives (n=13). Results from the quality of life instrument showed that psychological and social well-being were the most affected by pain. Physical, psychological and social well-being significantly correlated with each other whereas spiritual well-being correlated only moderately with psychological. The qualitative accounts supported the contents of the instrument in that they showed how pain influenced various aspects of daily life. The results show the importance of observing all life dimensions of cancer patients, not just pain. Since the sample is not representative, the results cannot be generalised. The credibility is improved, however, by the congruence between the different types of data and by the fact that the results of this study support previous studies.