Psychosocial aspects of artificial feeding.

Artificial feeding can have an impact on the patient's quality of life. The psychosocial problems commonly reported in relation to parenteral nutrition are distress from loss of normal eating ability, depression, body image changes, fear of problems with apparatus, and decreased sexual activity. The psychosocial problems most commonly reported in relation to enteral nutrition include gustatory distress , some physical distress , and tube-related distress . Results of teaching approaches to reduce patient discomfort during tube feeding indicate that sensory rather than coping behavior information is more likely to be associated with higher levels of perceived control over enteral feeding, and that perceived control rather than perceived coping ability is more likely to be associated with willingness to repeat the experience. In general, the studies reviewed suggest that enteral feeding may be less stressful and produce fewer psychosocial problems than parenteral nutrition.