Conference Proceedings - School of Nursing & Midwifery - Trinity ...

School of Nursing & Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin: 8 th Annual Interdisciplinary Research Conference
Transforming Healthcare Through Research, Education & Technology: 7 th – 9 th November 2007
Conference Proceedings
(1995), results from a series of clinical trials confirm that the DCC
appears to be a valid, reliable and sensitive instrument which is able
to detect the transient changes in health and QOL which occur on a
day to day basis during therapy for cancer. It is well documented
that DDCs can be an extremely useful way of collecting data and
that they are being used more often in many health care settings,
for example in paediatrics as well as in the community (Oleske et al
1990).
Data Collection
Patients receiving chemotherapy for breast or colorectal cancers
were invited to participate in the study. Participation involved the
patients completing a number of self-completion quality of life
questionnaires (both groups), DDCs (intervention group only), and
following the RCT, some of the patients (ten of the patients in the
intervention group) also had a tape-recorded interview with the
researcher. Demographic data was obtained from all patients
attending the pre-assessment chemotherapy clinics, and this was
used to describe the characteristics of the sample as a whole.
Intervention group
All patients had a nausea and vomiting risk assessment prior to
starting their first course of chemotherapy. This assessment was
conducted to ascertain the patients’ understanding of their disease,
treatment and side-effects. It included assessment of their anxiety
levels, previous history of nausea and vomiting, for example motion
sickness and age. The risk assessment tool was developed using
recommendations and evidence from the literature on anticipatory
nausea and vomiting and from an audit I had previously conducted
using a similar tool a few years earlier with breast cancer patients
undergoing chemotherapy.
It is suggested in the literature that approximately 25% of patients
suffer from anticipatory nausea and vomiting. If patients are to
suffer from anticipatory nausea and vomiting it can develop
gradually and may only become evident after the fourth or fifth
three weekly cycle of chemotherapy (Lee et al 2005; Duigon 1986;
Pickett 1991; Quinton 1998). However, some individuals develop
the symptoms after only one cycle, particularly if they have
experienced poor control of nausea and vomiting with previous
chemotherapy (Morrow 2002; Duigon 1986; Pickett 1991).
Therefore data were collected on all patients up to and following the
completion of their fifth cycle of chemotherapy for breast cancer
patients and for 15 weeks for patients receiving weekly
chemotherapy for colorectal cancer.
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