Effects of Telephone Counseling Support on Distress, Anxiety, Depression, and Adverse Events in Cancer Patients Receiving Chemotherapy.
- Author:
Oh Nam OK
1
;
Min Sun NAM
;
Mi Sun YI
;
Seon Mi CHO
;
Eun Ji KIM
;
Yun Hee HAM
;
In Gak KWON
Author Information
- Publication Type:Randomized Controlled Trial ; Original Article
- Keywords: Telephone Counseling Support; Distress; Anxiety; Depression
- MeSH: Anxiety*; Counseling*; Depression*; Drug Therapy*; Humans; Mass Screening; Nursing; Telephone*
- From:Asian Oncology Nursing 2017;17(1):37-44
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:Korean
- Abstract: PURPOSE: This study is aimed at identifying the effects of telephone counseling as nursing support on distress, anxiety, depression, and adverse events in cancer patients undergoing their first chemotherapy. METHODS: This was a randomized controlled trial (pretest-posttest design). A total of 70 patients who showed 4 or higher distress scores were selected from the screening process. Four patients dropped out; therefore, 66 patients participated in this research. Thirty-two and 34 patients were randomly assigned to the experimental and the control group, respectively. After a preliminary survey, telephone counseling support was given to the experimental group at three time points. The post survey was done before the second cycle of chemotherapy. RESULTS: Regarding distress, both groups showed a statistically significant decrease in the scores: 3.4 for the experimental group and 1.8 for the control group (p=.002). Furthermore, the experimental group demonstrated a statistically significant decrease relative to the control group. Anxiety and depression showed no statistically significant difference between the two groups. CONCLUSION: This study concludes that nursing support through phone counseling is effective in decreasing distress in patients undergoing chemotherapy for the first time.
