FUNCTIONAL STATUS AND SYMPTOMS OF ELDERLY INDIVIDUALS WITH HAEMATOLOGICAL CANCER RECEIVING CHEMOTHERAPY

摘要

Introduction: This study aimed to examine the functional status and symptoms of elderlyindividuals with haematological cancer receiving chemotherapy.Materials and Method: This descriptive study was conducted with 69 individuals withhaematological cancer aged 65 years and over, who were receiving at least two cycles ofchemotherapy in an Oncology Hospital in a Turkish university between October 2013 and April2015. Ethics committee approval was obtained. The power of the study was 0.90 and the effectsize was 1.08. Data were collected using a patient information form, the Edmonton SymptomAssessment Scale (ESAS), the Functional Living Index–Cancer (FLIC); p < 0.05 were accepted asstatistically significant.Results: The highest ESAS mean score was observed for fatigue (5.82 ± 3.61). Evaluation of FLICand subscale mean scores showed that participants had a good functional status and quality of life.Significantly more symptoms were experienced in participants who were female, in the group aged75 years and over, had diagnosis duration of 7 months and longer (p< 0.05). There were positivecorrelations between nausea and Functional Living Index total scores.Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that fatigue is the most common symptom. Whenassessed with FLIC, overall patients’ functional status and quality of life are good. It is recommendedthat counseling by evaluating symptoms of elderly patients with haematological cancer, and theeffect these symptoms have on their functional status.