Meanings of quality of life held by patients with colorectal cancer in the context of chemotherapy

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: this study's aim was to interpret the meanings assigned to quality of life by patients with colorectal cancer undergoing chemotherapy. METHOD: the ethnographic method and the medical anthropology theoretical framework were used. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and participant observations with 16 men and women aged from 43 to 75 years old undergoing chemotherapy in a university hospital. RESULTS: the meanings and senses describe biographical ruptures, loss of normality of life, personal and social suffering, and the need to respond to chemotherapy's side effects; chemotherapy is seen as a transitional stage for a cure. Quality of life is considered unsatisfactory because the treatment imposes personal and social limitations and QoL is linked to resuming normal life. CONCLUSIONS: the meanings show the importance of considering sociocultural aspects in the conceptualization and assessment of quality of life.

Paradox of life among survivors of bladder cancer and treatments

“…The disease process (9) is characterized by recognition of the signs and symptoms indicative that the body is not healthy. The definition of the diagnosis and choice of treatment are negotiated, in general, by the patient and their family, and friends such as the pharmacist friend; as well as evaluation of outcomes of treatments undergone that, when evaluated as not effective or severe, lead them to seek other treatments.…”

“…Attitudes for coping with the disease, such as strength to fight and face the illness, are required to meet the expectation of the social norm to face difficult situations (18) . One of the key aspects to grasp the meaning of the patients' experiences was their explanations and beliefs about its cause (9) . In the medical model, smoking is the cause of bladder cancer (3) .…”

“…These explanations for cancer enable understanding that the explanatory models used are not pure, and are influenced by the language of the medical model, considering that all the study participants were in ongoing therapy, with frequent contact with health professionals and other patients. This influence is important because the participants needed to construct images from their socio-cultural environment and the medical environment, so that they could understand the "why" of the disease or its meanings, for which they required an explanation that transcended the individual body and medical diagnosis (9,15) . Confidence in medical treatment is defined by the doctor-patient relationship, based on social recognition of medical knowledge and technological resources used in therapy, which can promote successful outcomes (8).…”

“…Therefore, culture is learned, shared and standardized, and its constituent elements are values, symbols, rules and practices (9) . In order to understand the disease process, the explanatory model (EM) structures research of the models adopted by different social groups when they experience disease.…”

Gender differences in the perception of quality of life of patients with colorectal cancer

“…(7) In another study conducted with 16 patients aged between 43 and 75 years and with colorectal cancer and under chemotherapy, the patients assessed their quality of life as unsatisfactory and the meanings attributed to it were: loss of normal life, personal and social suffering and the need to react to the side effects of chemotherapy, which is a preliminary step to cure. (8) Thus, since patients under chemotherapy treatment may have a greater negative impact on their quality of life, it becomes relevant to investigate gender differences, as men and women present individual, social, physical and psychological particularities, which reflects in the coping of the disease and impacts of treatment in various ways. Various authors (9,10) have discussed gender differences and their individual cultural aspects; however, in the literature there are few studies evaluating gender differences in relation to quality of life in colorectal cancer.…”