Course of distress and quality of life in testicular cancer patients before, during, and after chemotherapy: Results of a pilot study

Testicular cancer is the most common cancer in white males between the ages of 15 and 45 years. Treatment may include the administration of chemotherapy which has been associated with changes in emotional distress, quality of life, and symptom distress in other cancers. The current study was designe...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psycho-oncology (Chichester, England) England), 2003-12, Vol.12 (8), p.814-820
Main Authors: Trask, Peter C., Paterson, Amber G., Fardig, Judith, Smith, David C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols - therapeutic use
Anxiety
Chemotherapy
Emotional distress
Emotions
Follow-Up Studies
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Patients
Quality of Life
Stress, Psychological
Testicular cancer
Testicular Neoplasms - drug therapy
Testicular Neoplasms - psychology
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Testicular cancer is the most common cancer in white males between the ages of 15 and 45 years. Treatment may include the administration of chemotherapy which has been associated with changes in emotional distress, quality of life, and symptom distress in other cancers. The current study was designed to evaluate the course of these constructs in a sample of testicular cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. Patients completed measures of emotional distress and quality of life prior to, during, and after chemotherapy, with symptom distress measured during chemotherapy. Thirty percent of patients reported moderate to high levels of distress at pre‐treatment baseline that was associated with worse quality of life. Initial anxiety and distress decreased and stayed low through chemotherapy and post‐treatment follow‐up. There were no significant changes in fatigue, nausea or change in appearance during chemotherapy. The results suggest that some patients evidence pre‐treatment anxiety and distress that appears to be primarily anticipatory, decreases over the course of chemotherapy, and occurs in the context of improved quality of life and reduced symptom severity. Deleterious changes in emotional distress, quality of life, and symptom distress seen in other cancer populations were not apparent in our sample of testicular cancer patients. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
ISSN:1057-9249
1099-1611
DOI:10.1002/pon.703