Quality of life assessment in cancer patients on chemotherapy

Quality of life is defined as an individual's perception of his or her position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards and concerns. The purpose of this study is to assess the quality of life of cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy in the Oncology Department. Target population of the study which is descriptive in nature was all cancer patients (n = 50) who had treatment in the oncology department of a university hospital located in Adana/Turkey. The data were collected through Personal Information Form with a view to identifying the socio-demographic features of the participants and a Short Form SF-36 questionnaire with a view to assessing the quality of life. Average age of the participants was found 51.60 ± 12.79. Of all the participants, 52% were men, 90% were married, 38% graduated from primary school, 42% were housewives, 88% had children, 48% lived in the city centre, 98% had social security, 62% had middle income, and 82% could not fulfill their responsibilities at home and work because of receiving chemotherapy. In addition, 98% were aware of their disease, 62% received training on chemotherapy and they received this training mostly from the nurses. According to the SF-36 scale scores of the participants, physical functioning was 43.7%, social functioning was 57.8%, mental health was 59.3%, vitality was 47.5%, general health was 21.1%, pain was 34.6%, emotion was 33.3%, and physical role functioning was 21.5%. A significant relationship was found between the age groups and mental health and social functioning (p 0.05). The present study indicates that chemotherapy affects cancer patients’ quality of life negatively