University Hospital of Udine, Department of Oncology , Udine , Italy
Expert Opin Drug Saf. 2014 Feb;13(2):139-50. doi: 10.1517/14740338.2013.830710. Epub 2013 Sep 27.
Analysis of relative importance of side effects of anticancer therapy is extremely useful in the process of clinical decision making. There is evidence that patients' perception of the side effects of anticancer treatments changes over time.
Aim of this study was to evaluate the cancer patients' perceptions of physical and non-physical side effects of contemporary anticancer therapy. Four hundred and sixty-four patients entered the study (153 men and 311 women). Participants were asked to rank their side effects in order of distress by using two sets of cards naming physical and non-physical effects, respectively. Influencing factors, including treatment and patient characteristics, were also analysed.
Patients ranked the non-physical side effect 'Affects my family or partner' first. 'Constantly tired' and 'Loss of hair' were ranked second and third, respectively. Significant differences from previous studies on this topic emerged. In particular, 'Vomiting', a predominant concern in previous studies, almost disappeared, whereas 'Nausea' and 'Loss of hair' remained important side effects in the patients' perception. Interestingly, marital status was predominant in driving patients' perception, being associated with several side effects ('Constantly tired', 'Loss of appetite', 'Affects my work/Home duties', 'Affects my social activities', 'Infertility'). Other significant factors influencing patient's perception of side effects included age, disease characteristics and ongoing anticancer therapy.
This study provided information on current status of patients' perceptions of side effects of anticancer treatment. These results could be used in pre-treatment patient education and counselling.
分析抗癌治疗副作用的相对重要性在临床决策过程中非常有用。有证据表明，患者对抗癌治疗副作用的看法会随时间而改变。
本研究旨在评估癌症患者对当代抗癌治疗的身体和非身体副作用的看法。共有 464 名患者入组研究（男性 153 名，女性 311 名）。参与者被要求使用分别命名身体和非身体效应的两套卡片，按困扰程度对其副作用进行排序。还分析了包括治疗和患者特征在内的影响因素。
患者将非身体副作用“影响我的家人或伴侣”排在首位。“一直疲倦”和“脱发”分别排在第二和第三位。与该主题的先前研究相比，出现了显著差异。特别是“呕吐”，在先前的研究中是一个主要关注点，几乎消失了，而“恶心”和“脱发”仍然是患者感知中的重要副作用。有趣的是，婚姻状况在驱动患者的感知方面占主导地位，与几种副作用有关（“一直疲倦”、“食欲不振”、“影响我的工作/家庭职责”、“影响我的社交活动”、“不孕”）。其他影响患者对副作用感知的重要因素包括年龄、疾病特征和正在进行的抗癌治疗。
本研究提供了有关癌症患者对抗癌治疗副作用的当前看法的信息。这些结果可用于治疗前患者教育和咨询。
