Research in correlation between quality of life and symptom distress of esophageal cancer patients undergoing postoperative chemotherapy

Abstract

Objective To describe the quality of life and symptom distress in esophageal cancer patients undergoing postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy,and explore the influence of symptom distress on quality of life.Methods The Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General (FACT-G),M.D.Anderson Symptom Inventory (MDASI) and demographic questionnaire were used to measure eighty-four patients undergoing postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy.Results The total average score of quality of life in patients undergoing chemotherapy after radical esophagectomy was (65.95±13.76) points.There was a significanfly negative relationship between the symptom distress and the severity of symptom and quality of life.Analysis of multiple factors showed that education level and symptom distress were the included variables in the multiple regression equation of quality of life,and the R2 was 0.253.Conclusions Quality of life in esophageal cancer patients undergoing postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy is influenced by many factors.The nurses should take measures to manage the symptom of patients and improve the quality of life of the patients. Key words: Eesophageal neoplasm; Radical esophagectomy; Chemotherapy; Quality of life; Symptom