Beacon Radiotherapy, Musgrove Park Hospital, Somerset NHS Foundation Trust, Taunton, United Kingdom; Faculty of Health and Applied Sciences, University of the West of England, Bristol, United Kingdom.
Faculty of Health, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, United Kingdom; School of Nursing, Midwifery and Paramedicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, Australia.
Radiography (Lond). 2023 May;29 Suppl 1:S24-S31. doi: 10.1016/j.radi.2023.02.011. Epub 2023 Feb 24.
There is little research regarding the experiences of patient comfort and how it is best managed in radiotherapy. The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of patient and therapeutic radiographer views of comfort during radiotherapy.
This qualitative study involved semi-structured interviews, with cancer patients (n = 25) and therapeutic radiographers (n = 25), conducted between January-July 2019. Patients were recruited from one radiotherapy clinic and therapeutic radiographers were recruited from across the United Kingdom via specialist interest groups and social media. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data separately between both groups and shared themes were identified.
Four themes were identified of which two themes were shared among both the patients and therapeutic radiographer. Emotional Health was a shared theme highlighting experiences such as stress, vulnerability and privacy. The second shared theme, Positioning and Immobilisation Experiences, concerned how patients' experience being physically positioned and using immobilisation for accurate radiotherapy. The theme Information and Communication Experience was derived from patients highlighting concerns over sharing and provision of information and ways of communication. The last theme, Environmental Experience, emerged from the patient interviews and related to the first impressions of the radiotherapy environment such as reception or treatment rooms and how this effects the overall feelings of comfort.
This qualitative study has provided the shared voice of patients and therapeutic radiographers and their experiences of comfort during radiotherapy. These shared experiences emphasise the importance of considering comfort holistically and not just from a physical context. This information can be used by therapeutic radiographers to better understand their patients experiences and needs to provide better comfort during radiotherapy to improve patients' outcomes.
The clinical implications of our study can encourage Therapeutic Radiographers to provide holistic care for their patients throughout the pathway and specifically to comfort patients while they are having treatment. In the short term this could be via simple adaptions to practice while in the long term, research is needed to develop comfort interventions for patients receiving radiotherapy.
关于患者舒适度的体验及其在放射治疗中的最佳管理方法，相关研究甚少。本研究旨在探讨癌症患者和治疗放射技师对放射治疗期间舒适度的体验。
本定性研究包括 2019 年 1 月至 7 月期间对 25 名癌症患者和 25 名治疗放射技师进行的半结构式访谈。患者从一家放射治疗诊所招募，治疗放射技师则通过专业兴趣小组和社交媒体在英国各地招募。访谈进行了录音，并逐字转录。对两组数据分别进行主题分析，并确定了共同主题。
确定了四个主题，其中两个主题是患者和治疗放射技师共同的。情绪健康是一个共同的主题，突出了患者的压力、脆弱性和隐私等体验。第二个共同主题是体位和固定体验，涉及患者对准确放射治疗的身体定位和使用固定的体验。信息和沟通体验主题源自患者对信息共享和提供以及沟通方式的关注。最后一个主题，环境体验，源自患者的访谈，涉及放射治疗环境的第一印象，如接待处或治疗室，以及这如何影响整体舒适度。
这项定性研究提供了患者和治疗放射技师的共同声音，以及他们在放射治疗期间的舒适度体验。这些共同的体验强调了全面考虑舒适度的重要性，而不仅仅是从身体角度考虑。这些信息可被治疗放射技师用于更好地了解患者的体验和需求，从而在放射治疗期间提供更好的舒适度，改善患者的治疗效果。
我们的研究的临床意义可以鼓励治疗放射技师在整个治疗过程中为患者提供全面的护理，特别是在患者接受治疗时为他们提供舒适感。在短期内，这可以通过对实践的简单调整来实现，而从长远来看，需要研究开发用于接受放射治疗的患者的舒适干预措施。
