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Patients' experiences of chemotherapy: side‐effects of carboplatin in the treatment of carcinoma of the ovary
Author(s) -
BUCKINGHAM RHONA,
FITT JANE,
SITZIAZ JOHN
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
european journal of cancer care
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.849
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1365-2354
pISSN - 0961-5423
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2354.1997.tb00270.x
Subject(s) - medicine , carboplatin , nausea , side effect (computer science) , constipation , incidence (geometry) , vomiting , chemotherapy , ovarian cancer , cancer , cisplatin , physics , optics , computer science , programming language
There has been little investigation of the side‐effects experienced by women receiving adjuvant carboplatin in the treatment of ovarian cancer. This study aimed to describe the range of problems experienced by patients and to estimate incidence and severity of side‐effects over the treatment period. Eleven patients participated and completed a 75‐item self‐report questionnaire at each course of treatment. Severity of each side‐effect was graded from 0 to 4. Patients also stated which had been the worst side effect at each course. The response rate was 94%. Seventy‐two side‐effects were reported. Fatigue emerged as both the most common and the most ‘troublesome’ side‐effect. Nausea, difficulty sleeping, taste change, and constipation were also ranked highly. Although limited by a small sample size, this study suggests patients undergoing carboplatin experience a wide range of problems, many of which merit further investigation.