Journal List > Asian Oncol Nurs > v.19(4) > 1140690

You and Park: Relationships between Attitude Towards Treatment, Distress, and Decision Conflict among Cancer Patients Receiving Chemotherapy

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to find the factors affecting the decisional conflict of patients undergoing chemotherapy.

Methods

Participants were 137 patients undergoing chemotherapy in a hospital. The Quality Quantity Questionnaire, a distress thermometer and the Decisional Conflict Scale were used to gather self-reported data. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-tests, ANOVA, post-hoc Scheffe's tests, Pearson's correlations coefficients and stepwise multiple regression.

Results

The decisional conflict showed that the score for severe to high distress groups were higher than that of the mild distress group. The levels of distress and satisfaction of chemotherapy decisional conflict were positively correlated (p=.043). Decisional conflict was significantly affected by age (p=.041), the burden of treatment costs (p=.047), the support system(p=.049), the current feeling of health(p=.024), and comorbidity (p=.039). The significant predictors of decisional conflict were support system, current feeling of health, age, and the burden of treatment costs, which explained 15% of the variance.

Conclusion

To improve the decisional conflict patients who are receiving chemotherapy, it is deemed to be necessary to develop an intervention program, for oncology nurses to use regarding decisional conflict over cancer treatment in consideration of the variables we have identified.

Figures and Tables

Table 1

Differences in Attitudes Towards Treatment, Distress and Conflicts of Chemotherapy Decision-making by Demographic and Ilness-related Characteristics (N= 137)

aon-19-242-i001

Scheffé test: a<b.

Table 2

Scores and Component Means of Attitudes Towards Treatment, Distress and Conflicts of Chemotherapy Decision Making (N= 137)

aon-19-242-i002

*Distress score <4= 37/137 (27.0%); Distress score ≥4= 100/137 (73.0%).

Table 3

Comparison of Attitudes Towards Treatment & Conflicts of Chemotherapy Decision Making between the Distress Groups (N= 137)

aon-19-242-i003
Table 4

Correlations among Attitudes Towards Treatment, Distress and Conflicts of Chemotherapy Decision Making (N= 137)

aon-19-242-i004
Table 5

Factors Influencing Conflicts of Chemotherapy Decision Making (N= 137)

aon-19-242-i005

*Dummy variable.

Notes

This article is an addition based on the first author's master's thesis from Gachon University.

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TOOLS
ORCID iDs

Hyun Mi You
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1018-5999

Eun Young Park
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1356-6487

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