Patients' perception of chemotherapy side effects: Expectations, doctor-patient communication and impact on quality of life - An Italian survey (original) (raw)
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Perception of Cancer Patients on Chemotherapy Side Effects
Jurnal Riset Kesehatan, 2021
Chemotherapy causes various side effects that can affect the patient's physical or non-physical condition. Patients' perceptions or ratings of these side effects vary. This study aimed to identify cancer patients' perceptions of the side effects of chemotherapy they are undergoing. The descriptive study was conducted on 84 samples, namely cancer patients aged 20 years who had undergone chemotherapy at least once before. Data collection using a questionnaire that has been tested for validity and reliability. Data analysis was carried out descriptively with frequency distribution. The results showed that the perception of the physical side effects of chemotherapy that was considered very disturbing by the patient (severe symptoms) was nausea (59.5%), feeling of weakness (36.9%), hair loss (35.7%), vomiting. (29.8%), loss of appetite (28.6%). %), weight loss (27.4%), insomnia and skin discoloration (19% each), headache (16.7%) and fever (15.5%). When the perception of non-p...
Supportive Care in Cancer
Background Studies in 1983 and 1993 identified and ranked symptoms experienced by cancer patients receiving chemotherapy. We repeated the studies to obtain updated information on patient perceptions of chemotherapy-associated symptoms. Patients and methods A cross-sectional interview and patient-reported outcome questionnaires were administered to out-patients receiving chemotherapy. Patients selected from 124 cards to identify and rank the severity of physical and non-physical symptoms they had experienced and attributed to chemotherapy (primary endpoint). The patient’s medical oncologist and primary chemotherapy nurse were invited to rank the five symptoms they believed the patient would rank as their most severe. We analysed the association of symptoms and their severity with patient demographics, chemotherapy regimen, and patient-reported outcomes. Results were compared to the earlier studies. Results Overall, 302 patients completed the interview: median age 58 years (range 17–8...
Side effects and emotional distress during cancer chemotherapy
Cancer, 1989
Chemotherapy side effects, patient distress, and patient-practitioner communication were evaluated in an inception sample of 238 patients with breast cancer or malignant lymphoma. Participants were interviewed at five points during their first six cycles of therapy, and a subsample kept brief daily symptom diaries. Nausea, hair loss, and tiredness were each experienced by more than 80% of patients. By cycle 6, 46% of patients had thoughts about quitting therapy, but only a few had told medical staff. Patients' ratings of the objective difficulty of treatment increased over time, varied by treatment regimen, and were predicted by the experience of side effects, with the number of different side effects serving as the best predictor. In contrast, emotional distress was less sensitive to the directly assessable characteristics of treatment. Communication between patient and practitioner was found to be inadequate in a number of respects (ie., patients did not fully anticipate the toxicities of treatment and did not report their concerns to medical staff). Communication may be impeded by inaccuracies in a patient's recall of treatment difficulties and by a patient's inability or unwillingness to attend to all presented information. More frequent opportunities for patient-practitioner discussion are necessary.
Cancer patients' expectations of experiencing treatment-related side effects
Cancer, 2004
BACKGROUND. Adequate management of treatment-related side effects is important for patients and challenging for clinicians. Side effects generated by various treatments have been characterized reasonably well. However, to the authors' knowledge, less is known regarding what patients expect to experience regarding these side effects and how patient characteristics are related to these expectations.
The impact of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting on health-related quality of life
Supportive Care in Cancer, 2007
Goal of work The objectives of this prospective observational study were to estimate the frequency of patients who reported an impact of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) on their daily life and to evaluate the determinants of such an impact. Materials and methods Adult cancer patients at seven Italian oncology centers who were receiving cisplatin-containing regimens reported incidence and intensity of CINV for eight consecutive days in a diary and completed a Functional Living Index for Emesis (FLIE) questionnaire. Main results Overall, 34% of patients reported vomiting and 62% reported nausea after chemotherapy. On days 1 to 5 after receiving chemotherapy, 67% of patients who had at least one emetic episode and 77% of those who suffered from at least mild nausea experienced an impact on their daily activities as measured on the FLIE questionnaire. More than 90% of all patients with both acute and delayed nausea or vomiting reported an impact on their daily life. Both acute and delayed vomiting contributed in similar measure to impact daily life; however, the importance of delayed nausea was greater than that of acute nausea. Conclusions Despite antiemetic prophylaxis, CINV is still prevalent and often impacts the daily life of patients in Italy, especially in the delayed phase. The duration more than the severity seems to be responsible for the impact of CINV on the patients’ daily lives.
Symptom experiences during chemotherapy treatment—With focus on nausea and vomiting
European Journal of Oncology Nursing, 2006
Nausea and vomiting are common and well-studied symptoms in cancer care. Most previous studies have focused on the frequency and management of these symptoms. The aim of the study was to acquire a deeper understanding of cancer patients' symptom experiences with a focus on nausea and vomiting during chemotherapy treatment, and the consequences these have on their daily lives. Nine women with different types of cancer and chemotherapy treatments were admitted for chemotherapy treatment and participated in the study. Semistructured interviews were conducted and analysed using content analysis inspired by Kvale's methods of clarifying and developing new meaning. Five main categories were identified as ' ' before cancer diagnosis'', ' ' being ill-consequences on daily life'', ' ' going through chemotherapy treatment'', ' ' coping with treatment'' and ' ' after treatment-looking forward to a normal life''. The present findings suggest that the individual experiences of nausea and vomiting during chemotherapy treatment may have a profound effect on how treatment is perceived and may influence future decisions concerning further treatment.
Factors contributing to emotional distress during cancer chemotherapy
Cancer, 1982
Recent studies have demonstrated that patients receiving cancer chemotherapy are more likely to have a successful treatment outcome if they receive optimal doses of drugs continually. The current study was designed as a first step toward discovering factors that are associated with emotional distress during treatment and subsequent decisions by patients to delay, reduce, or terminate treatment. Interviews were conducted with 61 patients receiving chemotherapy for malignant lymphoma. Patients reported on side effects of treatment and their efforts to control them, their knowledge and beliefs about their illness, their strategies for monitoring the effectiveness of treatment, and the extent to which they had been prepared for the experiences of chemotherapy. Ratings of emotional distress were obtained on an 11point self-report scale, and information about treatment schedules was obtained from medical records. The number of side effects experienced, but not the duration or severity, was positively correlated with distress. Vague, diffuse side effects such as tiredness and pain were more likely to be associated with distress than were acute, specific side effects such as nausea and vomiting. Patients who reported either unsuccessful attempts to cope with side effects or no attempts at all had greater distress than those who were coping successfully. Patients who developed conditioned nausea during treatment reported higher distress than those who did not. Cancer 50:1020-1027, 1982. HE TREATMENT of various forms of cancer with T cytotoxic chemotherapy has become more common and more effective in the last ten years. Once reserved for advanced cases which could not be treated through other methods, such as surgery or radiotherapy, chemotherapy is being used more often in the treatment of nearly all cancers and is now the primary mode of treatment for a variety of cancers. Indeed, the effectiveness of chemotherapy for certain cancers is such that, in some instances, diseases once thought to be invariably fatal, e.g., testicular cancer, ALL, are considered to be curable. The optimism which has accompanied these advances is somewhat tempered by the severe toxic side effects, including severe nausea and vomiting, loss of hair,
Does assessing patients’ expectancies about chemotherapy side-effects influence their occurrence?
Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 2012
Context. Increasing evidence suggests a link between patients’ expectancies and post-chemotherapy side effects. However, it remains unclear whether asking patients about their expectancies might actually increase side effects. Objectives. The present study tested whether questioning first-time chemotherapy patients about their pretreatment expectancies for four common side effects influences the occurrence and/or severity of these side effects posttreatment and whether these pretreatment expectancies are predictive of posttreatment side effects. Methods. Ninety-one first-time chemotherapy patients were randomly allocated to have their expectancies for nausea, fatigue, feelings of sadness, and loss of appetite assessed before their first infusion or to no such assessment. All patients then rated the occurrence and severity of these side effects at the end of their first chemotherapy cycle. Results. There were no statistically significant differences in occurrence or severity of side effects in those who had their expectancies assessed compared with those who did not. There was, however, evidence of a statistically significant positive relationship between patients’ pretreatment expectancies and their posttreatment reports of nausea, loss of appetite, and feelings of sadness, after controlling for age, sex, and baseline symptom levels. Conclusion. These findings suggest that patient expectancies might be a useful point of intervention for attempting to reduce the burden of chemotherapy-related side effects, as there do not appear to be any detrimental effects of asking patients to report their expectancies and their expectancies do appear related to the occurrence of posttreatment side effects.
Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer, 2016
The purpose of this study was to identify the treatment-associated problems that most impact on patients undergoing cancer chemotherapy, how problems relate to experiences of supportive care and variations in experience between cancer treatment centres. A survey administered to patients at six cancer centres in England explored variations of prevalence of 17 cancer chemotherapy-associated problems and associated supportive care. Problem items were identified as the most frequently experienced and severe when experienced in a scoping and consensus exercise. A health-related quality of life (HRQoL) measure, the EQ5D, was included to measure impact of problems. A total of 363 completed questionnaires were returned (response rate 43 %, median 61 %). The most prevalent problem was 'tiredness/fatigued' (90 %), followed by 'changes in taste & smell' (69 %) and 'difficulty managing everyday tasks' (61 %). Significant variations in problem prevalence existed between c...