Needs and Self-Care Efficacy for Cancer Patients Suffering from Side Effects of Chemotherapy

Abstract

Background and Aim. Cancer is the leading cause of death in economically developed countries and is a threat to human lives. Cancer and chemotherapy side effects may affect the daily activity of cancer patients and their families on many levels confronted by changes in health status and lifestyles, leading to impaired self-care efficacy. Objective. To assess the needs and self-care efficacy for cancer patients suffering from side effects of chemotherapy. A descriptive cross-sectional design was conducted. A purposive sample of 150 adult cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy during the period from January to June 2020 was studied at the Oncology Outpatients Clinic at Al Rantisi Hospital in Gaza Strip. Tools. Tools of the study involved the following: structure interviewing questionnaire, patient assessment needs’ tool, and self-care activity for side effects of chemotherapy; Part I: assessment of self-care efficacy and Part II: assessment of physical, psychological, social, and spiritual needs of patients and activity of daily living. The findings of this study indicated that, concerning the duration of illness, 44.5% of studied patients started complaining of symptoms of cancer for about two years, and more than one-third of them, 69.3%, started chemotherapy more than one year ago. More than half of the studied patients, 55.3%, had poor knowledge about cancer, side effects of chemotherapy, how to manage these side effects, and level of self-care efficacy. The majority of studied subjects, 87.3%, had a financial burden, and nearly two-thirds of patients, 61.3%, need reassurance to cope with illness. There was high statistical significance between self-care efficacy and daily living activity. Regarding physical problem, the most affected systems were the gastrointestinal and the dermatological system. Also, the majority of patients were independent in walking, dressing, toileting, and feeding, but more than two-thirds of them needed assistance toward the ability to handle finance, shopping, housekeeping, food preparation, and travelling.

Perceived communication efficacy and unmet needs for chemotherapy-associated symptom management in patients with lung and colorectal cancer: a cross-sectional study

“…Previous studies examining the supportive care needs of lung [ 18 ] and colorectal cancer [ 19 ] patients highlighted that fatigue, nausea, and vomiting were symptoms with a high occurrence but were often undermanaged, significantly reducing patients’ quality of life. The preponderance of evidence regarding unmet care needs for chemotherapy-related symptom management was from studies of patients with mixed cancer diagnoses, [ 20 ] and only some studies specifically focused on lung and colorectal patients [ 21 , 22 ]. Moreover, prior research examining lung and colorectal patients’ unmet supportive care needs has mainly targeted patients in survivorship or during post-treatment phases [ 14 , 18 , 19 ].…”

Construction and evaluation of a cloud follow-up platform for gynecological patients receiving chemotherapy

“…In addition, the incidence of other adverse effects of chemotherapy, such as chemotherapy-induced constipation (CIC), sleep disturbance, chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN), and cancer-related fatigue (CRF) is 16–48% [ 6 ], 65% [ 7 ], 30–40% [ 8 ], and 78%, respectively [ 9 ]. Typically, these adverse effects do not occur simultaneously, and some of them occur or worsen after discharge [ 10 ]. Therefore, it is particularly important to provide regular follow-up and professional health guidance to patients receiving chemotherapy.…”

Construction and evaluation of a cloud follow-up platform for gynecological chemotherapy patients

“…In addition, the incidence of other adverse effects caused by chemotherapy such as chemotherapy-induced constipation (CIC), sleep disturbance, chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN), and cancer-related fatigue (CRF) was 16-48% [6], 65% [7], 30-40% [8], and 78%, respectively [9]. These adverse effects usually do not occur simultaneously, and some of them occur or worsen after discharge [10]. Therefore, providing regular follow-up and professional health guidance to chemotherapy patients is particularly important.…”