Loneliness of oncology patients at the end of life

Çıracı, Yasemin; Nural, Nesrın; Saltürk, Zıya

doi:10.1007/s00520-016-3159-5

Cited by 24 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Patients with terminal cancer generally feel lonely in hospital, and this feeling is stronger in those without visitors and/or family support [51]. It is therefore necessary for nurses to listen to the complaints of patients who feel lonely, remaining close to them.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How to come to terms with facing death: a qualitative study examining the experiences of patients with terminal Cancer

Kyota

Kanda

2019

BMC Palliat Care

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Background Cancer patients who have reached the terminal stage despite attempts at treatment are likely to experience various problems, particularly as they encounter increasing difficulty in doing what they were able to do easily, and their physical symptoms increase as the disease advances. The purpose of this study is to explore how terminal cancer patients who have not clearly expressed a depressed mood or intense grief manage their feelings associated with anxiety and depression. Methods Eleven terminally ill patients with cancer who were receiving symptom-relieving treatment at home or in palliative care units were interviewed. Interviews were generally conducted weekly, two to five times for each participant. In total, 33 interviews were conducted, and the overall interview time was 2027 min. Data were analyzed via qualitative methods. Results The following five themes were extracted regarding the experience of managing feelings associated with anxiety and depression when facing death: “I have to accept that I have developed cancer,” “I have to accept the undeniable approach of my own death,” “I have to accept my need for assistance,” “I have to accept this unsatisfactory circumstance” and “I have to accept this as my destiny and an outcome of my life.” Conclusion The present study revealed key themes related to how patients come to terms with their impending death. Nurses are required to comprehend the patients’ complicated mental patterns that are expressed in their daily languages. Furthermore, the findings clarify the necessity for nurses to help patients understand the acceptance of a terminal disease state during a patient’s final days.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How to come to terms with facing death: a qualitative study examining the experiences of patients with terminal Cancer

Kyota

Kanda

2019

BMC Palliat Care

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“…Suffering from a malignant tumor causes patients to experience a greater depth of loneliness, but does not generally cause them to be overly pessimistic ( Çıracı, Nural & Saltürk, 2016 ; Thieme et al, 2017 ). Consistently, our findings suggest that the vast majority of OC patients and their families could face the disease rationally when a new possibility appeared.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Early identification of recurrence in ovarian cancer: a comparison between the ovarian cancer metastasis index and CA-125 levels

Wang

Zhao

Tan

et al. 2018

PeerJ

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Ovarian cancer (OC) is the second most common gynecologic malignancy. A clinical observational study was performed to investigate whether indicators that assess the risk of metastasis can identify recurrence earlier in OC patients. By successfully recruiting 41 patients with OC who underwent chemotherapy, we compared cancer antigen-125 (CA-125) and the ovarian cancer metastasis index (OCMI), which was previously developed by us in the clinic for this purpose. Our results showed that patients and their families generally took a sensible attitude toward disease progression and were willing to accept a new way to gain knowledge about the disease. Herein, the new way was the possibility of monitoring recurrence by introducing the OCMI into the clinic. Fifteen patients experienced recurrence during chemotherapy, implying treatment failure. For 53% of these patients, an abnormally high OCMI suggested a strong tendency toward metastasis at least one chemotherapy cycle prior to the pathological examination confirming recurrence. In comparison, the early recognition rate of recurrence using CA-125 levels was merely 13%. Furthermore, we found that the mean values of the OCMI no longer declined after the fourth chemotherapy cycle, implying that excessive chemotherapy brings no benefit to OC patients. In conclusion, our findings provide a novel and feasible approach to monitor the effectiveness of chemotherapy in the treatment of OC by assessing the potential risk of metastasis.

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“…The population of this study was selected through a random sampling method. Based on the standard deviation of the University of California, Los Angeles Loneliness Scale (UCLA LS) of 20 as identified in previous studies, 16 – 19 the minimum required sample size was estimated to be 317, with a 95% confidence interval and a 5% type-I error rate. The test power was considered as 80% and the effect size was assigned a value of 2.2 based on the following formula: n = Zα 2 .σ 2 /d 2 ′(n = 1.962.202/2.22).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of the relationship between loneliness and medication adherence in patients with diabetes mellitus: A cross-sectional study

Avcı

2018

J Int Med Res

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ObjectiveThe emotional status of patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) is important in the course of treatment. The present study aimed to determine the level of loneliness among patients with DM and to evaluate the relationship between the patients’ level of loneliness and medication adherence.MethodThis cross-sectional study used a semi-structured questionnaire and the University of California, Los Angeles Loneliness Scale to collect data from 325 patients who were diagnosed with DM.ResultsWe found that loneliness scores were significantly elevated in individuals with a low level of education, unmarried individuals, and students. Furthermore, these scores were elevated in patients diagnosed with type 1 DM, patients on insulin therapy, patients diagnosed with diabetic foot syndrome, patients who did not exercise regularly, and patients who reported being disturbed by reminders from their families or spouses to take their medications or they did not feel anything after such reminders.ConclusionsIndividuals with DM may encounter various problems in their daily lives. Evaluating the emotional status in these individuals, including loneliness and treatment adherence, is important in ensuring that their needs are being met.

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Loneliness of oncology patients at the end of life

Abstract: Terminal stage cancer patients felt lonely in general, and patients with a lack of visitors and family support experienced a higher level of loneliness.

Cited by 24 publications

References 9 publications

How to come to terms with facing death: a qualitative study examining the experiences of patients with terminal Cancer

How to come to terms with facing death: a qualitative study examining the experiences of patients with terminal Cancer

Early identification of recurrence in ovarian cancer: a comparison between the ovarian cancer metastasis index and CA-125 levels

Evaluation of the relationship between loneliness and medication adherence in patients with diabetes mellitus: A cross-sectional study

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