Department of Critical Care Nursing, Razi Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran.
Student Research Committee, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran.
Support Care Cancer. 2022 Nov;30(11):9421-9432. doi: 10.1007/s00520-022-07301-1. Epub 2022 Aug 1.
Cancer is the world's second greatest cause of mortality and a leading cause of death in both developed and developing countries. Patients employ a number of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) methods to deal with the problems and difficulties of cancer, which can have an impact on their quality of life (QOL). The aim of the present study was to assess the correlation between QOL and the use of different CAM methods in terminally ill cancer patients.
This was a cross-sectional study. In southern Iran, 238 individuals with advanced cancer were studied in oncology centers and doctors' offices. During the months of January to August 2021, patients were selected using convenience sampling. A demographic information questionnaire, the EORTC core quality of life questionnaire, and the CAM questionnaire were used to collect data.
The results showed that terminally ill cancer patients had a good quality of life. Last year, 85.7% of participants used at least one kind of CAM. Furthermore, 45.4% of participants used only one form of CAM, 30.3% used two types of CAM, 6.7% used three types of CAM, and 3.4% used four to five types of CAM. When all CAM users were compared to non-CAM users, CAM users had significantly higher social QOL and overall quality of life. Two subscales of QOL symptoms and function were correlated with cancer history, income, and use of CAMs, and the scores of QOL symptoms and function were greater in CAM users compared to non-CAM users. Among all the study variables, only the usage of CAM was correlated to overall QOL among terminally ill cancer patients.
The current study found that using CAM could affect different aspects of QOL in terminally ill cancer patients. As a result, it is feasible that using CAM could help these people enhance their health and QOL.
癌症是全球第二大死亡原因，也是发达国家和发展中国家的主要死亡原因。患者采用了许多补充和替代医学（CAM）方法来应对癌症带来的问题和困难，这可能会影响他们的生活质量（QOL）。本研究的目的是评估终末期癌症患者的 QOL 与使用不同 CAM 方法之间的相关性。
这是一项横断面研究。在伊朗南部，在肿瘤中心和医生办公室对 238 名晚期癌症患者进行了研究。在 2021 年 1 月至 8 月期间，采用便利抽样法选择患者。使用人口统计学信息问卷、EORTC 核心生活质量问卷和 CAM 问卷收集数据。
结果表明，终末期癌症患者的生活质量良好。去年，85.7%的参与者至少使用了一种 CAM。此外，45.4%的参与者仅使用一种 CAM 形式，30.3%的参与者使用两种 CAM，6.7%的参与者使用三种 CAM，3.4%的参与者使用四种或五种 CAM。当所有使用 CAM 的患者与未使用 CAM 的患者进行比较时，CAM 使用者的社会 QOL 和总体生活质量显著更高。生活质量症状和功能的两个亚量表与癌症病史、收入和 CAM 使用相关，CAM 使用者的症状和功能评分高于未使用者。在所有研究变量中，只有 CAM 的使用与终末期癌症患者的总体 QOL 相关。
本研究发现，CAM 的使用会影响终末期癌症患者 QOL 的不同方面。因此，CAM 的使用可以帮助这些人改善健康和 QOL 是合理的。
