Influence of pharmaceutical care pathway on cancer-related fatigue and negative emotion in patients with advanced lung cancer undergoing chemotherapy

Abstract

Objective To investigate the influence of pharmaceutical care pathway on cancer-related fatigue (CRF) and negative emotion in patients with advanced lung cancer undergoing chemotherapy. Methods Patients with advanced lung cancer admitted to the oncology department of Yongkang first people′s hospital from January 2017 to June 2018 for chemotherapy were randomly divided into two groups:61 cases received conventional clinical pathway management (control group), and 64 cases received conventional clinical pathway combined with pharmaceutical pathway management (intervention group). Fatigue, anxiety, depression scores were compared between the two groups before and after 2, 4 cycles chemotherapy. Results There was no significant difference in baseline condition between the two groups (P>0.05). After 4 cycles of chemotherapy, emotional, physical and cognitive fatigue scores in the intervention group were lower than control group (t=2.975, 1.512, 2.393, P<0.05). With the increase of chemotherapy cycles, scores of fatigue dimensions in control group were increased (F=44.274,21.740,29.261,7.206, P<0.05). In the intervention group, there were statistically significant differences in scores of fatigue dimensions (F=17.083, 15.902, 17.055, 10.543, P<0.01), among which, scores of behavioral and physical fatigue dimensions were increased (P<0.01), while scores of emotional and cognitive fatigue dimensions were decreased (P<0.01). In terms of negative emotions, depression scores in the intervention group were lower than those in control group at 2 cycles of chemotherapy (t=2.578, P<0.05), and at 4 cycles, anxiety and depression scores were lower than control group (t=7.004, 7.454, P<0.05). As the chemotherapy cycle increased, anxiety and depression scores in the control group increased (F=12.333, 14.819, P<0.05), while those in the intervention group decreased (F=4.992, 3.826, P<0.05). Conclusion The pathway of clinical pharmaceutical care can significantly improve the CRF and negative emotions of patients with advanced lung cancer undergoing chemotherapy. Key words: Lung neoplasms; Fatigue; Anxiety; Depression; Pharmacy