The origins of blood-injection fear/phobia in cancer patients undergoing intravenous chemotherapy

In the present study, responses of 197 people who were receiving chemotherapy at two outpatient clinics and who completed a questionnaire about the presence and origin of blood-injection-injury (BII) fear were examined. From this sample, 36 participants (18.9%) reported 'strong feelings of fear, disgust or discomfort' towards the sight of blood, receiving injections or both. Of the 36, 7 participants (19.4%) had first noticed these concerns while they were receiving chemotherapy, and a further 19 (52.8%) reported noticing them during a traumatic experience unrelated to treatment. A subgroup of 22 participants completed the Origins Questionnaire (Menzies & Clarke, 1993). Of these participants, 7 (31.8%) were classified as having an associative onset, and 6 (27.7%) were classified as nonassociative. Only 1 participant with an associative onset attributed the fear to trauma related to chemotherapy. From these data, it appears that while a large minority of the chemotherapy patients who completed the questionnaire experienced distress associated with blood and injections, in the majority of cases the onset of these fears was not attributable to trauma associated with chemotherapy.