Can, G., Erol, O., Aydiner, A., & Topuz, E. (2011). Non-pharmacological interventions used by cancer patients during chemotherapy in Turkey. European Journal of Oncology Nursing, 15, 178-184.
To determine the kind of nonpharmacological interventions used by Turkish patients with cancer for symptom management during chemotherapy, whether a relationship exists between symptom experience and nonpharmacological intervention use, and what personal and illness-related variables predict the symptom experience and nonpharmacological interventions use in this population
Patients completed the following. If patients were unable to complete the tools themselves, a friend or relative verbally asked the patient the questions.
The study was conducted at a single site, outpatient setting at the Istanbul University Institute of Oncology in Turkey.
Patients were undergoing the active phase of treatment care.
This was a descriptive study.
Most patients with cancer in Turkey preferred pharmacologic interventions for symptom management. Exercise, as a recognized evidence-based intervention, was only reported to be used by a few patients. The authors recommended that oncology nurses teach patients more about the side effects of chemotherapy and associated nonpharmacological interventions. Although other studies have produced such evidence-based recommendations, they were not developed from this study of self-reported symptoms and interventions of Turkish people receiving chemotherapy. The authors did not report if or how teaching occurred from the perspective of the nurse or the patient or family.
An individualized assessment of each patient's knowledge and preferences is important to all cultures and practices.