Depression and fatigue symptoms increased during radiotherapy treatment, while QoL levels decreased. This demonstrates that these symptoms are strongly correlated and that their presence negatively influenced QoL. At the start of treatment, nurses need to advise patients and plan care, offering interventions to decrease these symptoms and improve QoL.

This study aimed to investigate the frequency of symptoms of depression in patients with cancer of the head and neck undergoing radiotherapy treatment, in the initial, middle and final stages of the treatment. This is a prospective exploratory quantitative study of 41 patients with head and neck cancer, undergoing radiotherapy treatment in the Oncology Outpatient Clinic of the Beneficência Portuguese Hospital of Ribeirão Preto. Data were collected through the Beck Depression Inventory instrument, and analyzed quantitatively by means of the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. Symptoms of dysphoria were found to increase throughout the treatment, as well as the number of patients with depression. The results show the importance for the healthcare professionals to detect the prevalence and the levels of the symptoms of depression, since these symptoms tend to increase and may lead to consequences such as a lack of adherence to treatment and a decrease in the quality of life of these patients. Síntomas del depresión en los pacientes con cáncer de cabeza y cuello en tratamiento radioterápico: un estudio prospectivoEl objetivo de este estudio fue investigar la frecuencia de los síntomas de depresión en pacientes con cáncer de cabeza y cuello en el principio, medio y final del tratamiento radioterápico. Se trata de un estudio prospectivo, exploratorio y cuantitativo realizado con 41 pacientes con cáncer de cabeza y cuello en tratamiento de radioterapia en la Clínica de Oncología del Hospital Beneficencia Portuguesa de Ribeirão Preto. Los datos fueron recolectados a través del Inventario de Depresión de Beck y analizados cuantitativamente en el programa Statistical Package of Social Science. Como resultados se obtuvo los síntomas de disforia aumentaron durante el tratamiento, así como el número de pacientes con depresión. Los resultados muestran la importancia de los profesionales de salud en detectar los niveles y la prevalencia de síntomas de depresión, ya que estos síntomas tienden a aumentar y pueden llevar a consecuencias como la falta de adherencia al tratamiento y disminución de la calidad de vida de los pacientes.Descriptores: Radioterapia; Depresión; Neoplasias de Cabeza y Cuello.

Objective:characterize the scientific production of Brazil and Spain in regard to methodological aspects and aspects of health-related quality of life experienced by cancer patients receiving chemotherapy in both countries. Method:integrative literature review was conducted using the following databases: CINAHL, MEDLINE, SCOPUS and CUIDEN and the electronic libraries PubMed and SciELO, conducted in September 2013. Results:a total of 28 papers met the inclusion criteria. The synthesis of knowledge was presented in three categories of analysis: assessment of quality of life in different types of cancer; sociodemographic factors that influenced quality of life; and type of cancer and interventions that improve quality of life. Chemotherapy affects health-related quality of life and the most important factors were: age, sex, chemotherapy protocol, type of surgery, stage of the disease, educational level, and emotional intelligence. Complementary therapies such as acupuncture, guided visualization, prayers and exercise were positive and reduced side effects. Conclusion:the results showed a poor level of evidence, since 86% of the studies were cross-sectional descriptive studies; the instrument most frequently used to measure health-related quality of life was EORTC QLQ C-30 and more studies were conducted in Brazil than in Spain.

Objetivo: Avaliar os efeitos do relaxamento com imagem guiada sobre a qualidade de vida de pacientes durante quimioterapia. Metodologia: estudo quase-experimental realizado em dois centros de quimioterapia. Utilizou-se instrumento QualityofLife Questionnaire-Core30. Resultados: no Tempo1, ambos grupos (controle e intervenção) apresentaram sintomas mais comuns: dor, fadiga, insônia e perda de apetite. Na comparação entre grupos, foram encontradas diferenças estatisticamente significantes no Tempo1, com o grupo controle apresentando melhores escores de qualidade de vida global, função social, náuseas e vômitos; Tempo2, para função física e Tempo3 para funções física, emocional, desempenho de papel, fadiga, náuseas e vômitos, com melhores resultados para o grupo intervenção. Comparando-se os tempos, o grupo controle apresentou prejuízo nas funções física, emocional e social, náuseas e vômitos e constipação, enquanto o grupo de intervenção apresentou melhora na função emocional. Conclusão: o relaxamento com imagem guiada proporcionou melhora na qualidade de vida relacionada à saúde dos pacientes durante quimioterapia.