Kassianos, Angelos P.Georgiou, AlexandrosKyprianidou, MariaLamnisos, DemetrisĻubenko, JeļenaPresti, GiovambattistaSquatrito, ValeriaConstantinou, MariosNicolaou, ChristianaPapacostas, SavvasAydin, GökçenChong, Yuen YuChien, Wai TongCheng, Ho YuRuiz, Francisco J.Garcia-Martin, Maria B.Obando, DianaSegura-Vargas, Miguel A.Vasiliou, Vasilis S.McHugh, LouiseHöfer, StefanBaban, AdrianaNeto, David Diasda Silva, Ana NunesMonestès, Jean LouisAlvarez-Galvez, JavierBlarrina, Marisa PaezMontesinos, FranciscoSalas, Sonsoles ValdiviaŐri, DorottyaKleszcz, BartoszLappalainen, RaimoIvanović, IvaGosar, DavidDionne, FrederickMerwin, Rhonda M.Chatzittofis, AndreasKonstantinou, EvangeliaEconomidou, SofiaGloster, Andrew T.Karekla, MariaConstantinidou, Anastasia2022-02-222022-02-222021-12-01Kassianos, A P, Georgiou, A, Kyprianidou, M, Lamnisos, D, Ļubenko, J, Presti, G, Squatrito, V, Constantinou, M, Nicolaou, C, Papacostas, S, Aydin, G, Chong, Y Y, Chien, W T, Cheng, H Y, Ruiz, F J, Garcia-Martin, M B, Obando, D, Segura-Vargas, M A, Vasiliou, V S, McHugh, L, Höfer, S, Baban, A, Neto, D D, da Silva, A N, Monestès, J L, Alvarez-Galvez, J, Blarrina, M P, Montesinos, F, Salas, S V, Őri, D, Kleszcz, B, Lappalainen, R, Ivanović, I, Gosar, D, Dionne, F, Merwin, R M, Chatzittofis, A, Konstantinou, E, Economidou, S, Gloster, A T, Karekla, M & Constantinidou, A 2021, 'Mental health and adherence to covid-19 protective behaviors among cancer patients during the covid-19 pandemic : An international, multinational cross-sectional study', Cancers, vol. 13, no. 24, 6294. https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers132462942072-6694https://dspace.rsu.lv/jspui/handle/123456789/7640Publisher Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.A population-based cross-sectional study was conducted during the first COVID-19 wave, to examine the impact of COVID-19 on mental health using an anonymous online survey, enrolling 9565 individuals in 78 countries. The current sub-study examined the impact of the pandemic and the associated lockdown measures on the mental health, and protective behaviors of cancer patients in comparison to non-cancer participants. Furthermore, 264 participants from 30 different countries reported being cancer patients. The median age was 51.5 years, 79.9% were female, and 28% had breast cancer. Cancer participants reported higher self-efficacy to follow recommended national guidelines regarding COVID-19 protective behaviors compared to non-cancer participants (p < 0.01). They were less stressed (p < 0.01), more psychologically flexible (p < 0.01), and had higher levels of positive affect compared to non-cancer participants. Amongst cancer participants, the majority (80.3%) reported COVID-19, not their cancer, as their priority during the first wave of the pandemic and females reported higher levels of stress compared to males. In conclusion, cancer participants appeared to have handled the unpredictable nature of the first wave of the pandemic efficiently, with a positive attitude towards an unknown and otherwise frightening situation. Larger, cancer population specific and longitudinal studies are warranted to ensure adequate medical and psychological care for cancer patients.332045enginfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessCancer patientsCOVID-19Health behaviorsMental healthProtection behaviors3.2 Clinical medicine1.6 Biological sciences1.1. Scientific article indexed in Web of Science and/or Scopus databaseOncologyCancer ResearchSDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being/dk/atira/pure/researchoutput/researchoutputtypes/contributiontojournal/article10.3390/cancers13246294http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85121054127&partnerID=8YFLogxK