Assessment of symptom control in patients with cancer in Northwestern Turkey

AimThe main purpose of this cross-sectional study was to compare symptoms occurring before and after chemotherapy treatment and to investigate the factors affecting those symptoms. The secondary purpose was to determine the most commonly occurring symptoms experienced by the patients with cancer after chemotherapy.MethodsFifty inpatients and outpatients receiving chemotherapy for the first time with various cancer diagnoses and hospitalized in the oncology unit of Trakya University Medical Faculty Hospital between July 2006 and April 2007 were attended to the study. Data were collected using the Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale (ESAS).ResultsIt was discovered that symptoms of fatigue, nausea, loss of appetite, impaired sense of well-being, changes in skin and nails, stomatitis and numbness in hands among chemotherapy patients increased by a statistically significant margin after treatment (p < 0.05). Post-chemotherapy symptoms increased markedly (p < 0.05) among patients within groups determined by age, gender, marital status, stage of cancer and date of diagnosis. Cross-group comparisons of post-chemotherapy participants analyzed in terms of marital status, clinical stage of disease, and date of diagnosis revealed that fewer symptoms (drowsiness and shortness of breath) increased compared to other symptoms measured along with treatment (p < 0.05).ConclusionWe conclude that by considering personal characteristic (i.e. age, gender, etc.) as well as disease-related characteristics (i.e. clinical stage of the disease, etc.), individual nursing care might significantly contribute to the alleviation and management of symptoms.