title: Nurses' repeat measurement of chemotherapy symptoms: feasibility, resulting information, patient satisfaction.
abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility and acceptability of a repeated measurement of 5 major side effects (pain, nausea, vomiting, anxiety, and fatigue) experienced by patients during an entire course of chemotherapy. Forty-nine inpatients receiving intravenous chemotherapy in the Medical Oncology Department of the Institut Paoli-Calmettes (Marseilles, France) were included in the study. At the study entry and every 12 hours from beginning of chemotherapy course, nurses assessed symptoms using Visual Analogic Scales (except for vomiting measured in number of episodes). Patients' pretreatment characteristics and their degree of satisfaction with nursing assessment were also recorded. The mean number of symptom measures was 2.9 in courses of less than 3 days, 5.4 in courses of 3 days, and 7.5 in courses of more than 3 days. Symptom patterns varied according to length of course. Furthermore, patients' pretreatment characteristics (age, sex, marital status, education level, type of cancer) had an impact on symptom scores at baseline and during treatment. About 80% of patients judged the nursing assessment as not constraining and 55% considered that its impact on their care was positive. This study demonstrates that repeated measurement of chemotherapy side effects was feasible and provide useful information for symptom management that might increase patient treatment satisfaction.
authors.affiliation: Medical Oncology Department, Institut Paoli-Calmettes, Marseilles, France. oncomed@marseille.fnclcc.fr
authors.forename: Anne-Chantal
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Braud
authors.forename: Dominique
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Genre
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Leto
authors.forename: Vanessa
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Nemer
authors.forename: Jean-François
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Cailhol
authors.forename: Geneviève
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Macquart-Moulin
authors.forename: Dominique
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Maraninchi
authors.forename: Patrice
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Viens
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects*; D016903:Drug Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009730:Nursing Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D009859:Oncology Nursing; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents