Yee, Yong Siew
(2006)
Quality of life among cancer patients on
Chemotherapy in oncology unit HUSM.
Masters thesis, Universiti Sains Malaysia.
Abstract
Background of the study: Cancer is becoming a major health proble1n throughout the
world and chemotherapy is one of the most important tools for its treatment. However, side
effects of chemotherapy can influence patient's QOL (quality of life). In addition,
physicians frequently underesti1nate patient's QOL. Accurate QOL information can make a
major contribution to improve the management of cancer patients. It gives guidelines and
awareness for clinicians and nurses to concentrate more on QOL and plan specific
interventions to 1neet the needs in order to improve patients' QOL.
Objective: To identify the frequency of side effects during chetnotherapy treatinent,
compare the QOL pre- and on-chemotherapy treatment and determine the domains ofQOL
(physical, mental and social) in relation to the three most common side effects of
chemotherapy in HUSM.
Methodology: This study was a cross-sectional design and descriptive study. Fifty
heterogeneous cancer patients with chemotherapy treatment enrolled into this study. A
modified version 3.0 of the EORTC QLQ-C30 was used with reliability alpha 0.829.
Result: Results from this study revealed that the three most common side effects of
chemotherapy were fatigue, alopecia and appetite alteration. There was a significant
difference of QOL before and during chemotherapy. The three most common side effects
were significantly correlated with domains of QOL except for alopecia which was related
to physical domain. Overall, the global QOL of cancer patients were improved.
Conclusion: Assessment and evaluation of QOL for cancer patients with chemotherapy is
very important. Concentrating on QOL allows nurses to plan, implement, evaluate and
revise QOL care during various treatment periods. Nurses can provide information for
cancer patients regarding prevention and management strategies for side effects of
chemotherapy.
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