Sensory perception of patients on selected antineoplastic chemotherapy protocols.

Antineoplastic chemotherapy (ANCT) is a primary and adjuvant treatment modality for cancer. Although researchers have found that patients who are given preparatory sensory information before various health-care procedures experience less discomfort, literature describing subject's sensory experience before, during, and after ANCT is lacking. The purpose of this study was to elicit sensory responses from subjects before, during, and after one of six cycles of their initial course of treatment on one of two emetogenic ANCT protocols. These descriptions will be used to develop a preparatory sensory nursing intervention that may promote self-care and help cancer patients cope with the distress of chemotherapy. The Sensory Information Questionnaire was administered to a sample of 44 subjects who had just completed a cycle of ANCT. Subjects provided descriptors of all senses. The senses for which subjects most frequently provided descriptors were taste, touch, and smell. Descriptors varied for some sensations according to the chemotherapy drug protocols.