頭頸癌病人術後接受放射化學治療之症狀困擾與生活干擾程度探討

Radiation therapy is common for head and neck cancer. Surgery with radiation therapy can cause symptom distress in term of physical-psycho-social aspects. These conditions may be associated with interrupted treatment and further exert an impact on patients' life. The aims of the study were to (1) examine changes in symptom distress severity, and (2) identify the symptom distress severity correlated to interference of daily life in head and neck cancer patients undergoing 6 weeks of postoperative RT. A time-series longitudinal study with convenience sampling was conducted and the M.D. Anderson Symptom Inventory-Taiwan Form (MDASI-T) was used to do an evaluation in each week. One hundred patients were enrolled in the study. Data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics and Pearson's correlation.
Our result revealed that the symptom distress and symptom interference of daily life are significantly correlated from the first to sixth week of treatment. Results from this study have provided important implications for clinical practice and future research to improve or reduce the symptom distress and symptom interference of the patient during radiotherapy and chemotherapy.