Salwa A. Mohamed
Assist. Prof. of Medical Surgical Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Fayoum University, Egypt
Title: Functional status and its correlates among cancer patients on chemotherapy: A Pilot Study
Biography
Biography: Salwa A. Mohamed
Abstract
Background: Chemotherapy plays an important role in the treatment of cancer. The purpose of this study was to identify correlates of functional status profile among cancer patients on chemotherapy.
Subjects and Method A sample of convenience of 50 cancer patients (15 males and 35 females), were assigned for chemotherapy. Four tools were utilized to collect data related to this study: (a) Inventory of Functional Status for comprehensive assessment before starting chemotherapy, middle of treatment cycle, by its end and finally after three months of completion of chemotherapy; (b) Patient Assessment Monitoring Record (PAMR), and (c) Demographic data and Medical information sheet will be utilized.
Results: There were statistically significant improvements of functional status over time, from start of chemotherapy to three months after was evidenced in the dimensions of personal care, household activities, and social activities and total functional status (p<0.05). There were better scores associated with increased hemoglobin amount, increased body surface area, and being male, nearly all better functional status dimensions scores (p<0.05), while associates of low functional status scores were almost being weakness, sadness, suffering from pain (p = 0.04).
Conclusion and recommendation: The results concluded that cancer patients were experiencing low functional status on the start of chemotherapy and there was slight improvement during, by the end, and after three months of treatment. Replication of this study is highly recommended on a large representative probability sample to achieve generalizable results.
Key wards: Chemotherapy - Cancer patients’ - Functional status profile