Asian Oncol Nurs.  2017 Mar;17(1):37-44. 10.5388/aon.2017.17.1.37.

Effects of Telephone Counseling Support on Distress, Anxiety, Depression, and Adverse Events in Cancer Patients Receiving Chemotherapy

• Ok ON
• Nam MS
• Yi MS
• Cho SM
• Kim EJ
• Ham YH
• Kwon IG

• KMID: 2376307
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5388/aon.2017.17.1.37

Abstract

PURPOSE
This study is aimed at identifying the effects of telephone counseling as nursing support on distress, anxiety, depression, and adverse events in cancer patients undergoing their first chemotherapy.
METHODS
This was a randomized controlled trial (pretest-posttest design). A total of 70 patients who showed 4 or higher distress scores were selected from the screening process. Four patients dropped out; therefore, 66 patients participated in this research. Thirty-two and 34 patients were randomly assigned to the experimental and the control group, respectively. After a preliminary survey, telephone counseling support was given to the experimental group at three time points. The post survey was done before the second cycle of chemotherapy.
RESULTS
Regarding distress, both groups showed a statistically significant decrease in the scores: 3.4 for the experimental group and 1.8 for the control group (p=.002). Furthermore, the experimental group demonstrated a statistically significant decrease relative to the control group. Anxiety and depression showed no statistically significant difference between the two groups.
CONCLUSION
This study concludes that nursing support through phone counseling is effective in decreasing distress in patients undergoing chemotherapy for the first time.

Keyword

Telephone Counseling Support; Distress; Anxiety; Depression

MeSH Terms

Anxiety*
Counseling*
Depression*
Drug Therapy*
Humans
Mass Screening
Nursing
Telephone*

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Research design.

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