Abstract
Objective To describe the change of symptoms and quality of life among nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients who undergo radiotherapy, and analyze the correlation between them. Methods A total of 218 nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients who received radiotherapy were included by convenient sampling method and they were asked to finish the questionnaire of general information, Chinese Version of the M.D. Anderson Symptom Inventory (MDASI-C) and Quality of Life Instruments for Cancer Patients-Head and Neck (QLICP-HN) at five time points, which were beginning, intermediate (the volume of radiotherapy at 36-40 Gy) , end of radiotherapy, three months and six months after radiotherapy. Results The severity of symptoms at five time points were (1.86±1.75) , (3.20±1.75) , (3.59±1.81) , (0.65±0.59) and (0.52±0.50) , presenting decreased gradually first, and then alleviated. The score of symptom severity at five time points were significantly different (F=182.86, P<0.05) . Fatigue, appetite loss and dry mouth were the most sever and high-incidence symptoms during and within six months after radiotherapy. The quality scores of life were (65.39±10.90) , (58.78±8.77) , (57.82±9.20) , (79.76±5.75) and (76.79±4.78) at five time points, representing the same trend as the scores of symptom, and the difference were statistically significant (F=129.75, P<0.05) . Spearman correlation analysis suggested that there were negative correlation between severity of symptoms and total score of quality of life (P<0.05) . Conclusions The symptoms of nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients exacerbates with dose of radiotherapy increase, and the quality of life is also decreased. Although most of symptoms disappear within six months after radiotherapy, fatigue, appetite loss and dry mouth persisted and influence patients' quality of life. Nurses should pay attention to patients' symptoms when they stay at hospital as well as discharged, and intervention is necessary to improve their quality of life. Key words: Longitudinal studies; Nasopharyngeal carcinoma; Symptom; Quality of life; Radiotherapy
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