Etiology and Treatment of the Psychological Side Effects Associated With Cancer Chemotherapy: A Critical Review and Discussion

Cancer patients receiving chemotherapeutic treatments routinely experience a wide range of distressing side effects, including nausea, vomiting, and dysphoria. Such symptoms often compromise patients' quality of life and may lead to the decision to postpone or even reject future, potentially li...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psychological bulletin 1988-11, Vol.104 (3), p.307-325
Main Authors: Carey, Michael P, Burish, Thomas G
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Antineoplastic Agents - adverse effects
Associated treatments
Biological and medical sciences
Chemotherapy
Drug Therapy
Etiology
Human
Humans
Medical sciences
Nausea - etiology
Nausea - therapy
Neoplasms
Neoplasms - drug therapy
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Psychotherapy - methods
Side Effects (Treatment)
Treatment
Treatments
Vomiting, Anticipatory - etiology
Vomiting, Anticipatory - therapy
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Cancer patients receiving chemotherapeutic treatments routinely experience a wide range of distressing side effects, including nausea, vomiting, and dysphoria. Such symptoms often compromise patients' quality of life and may lead to the decision to postpone or even reject future, potentially life-saving, treatments. In this article, we discuss the hypotheses that have been offered to explain the development of such symptoms. We also review, in greater detail, the research evidence for the efficacy of five treatments for such symptoms: hypnosis, progressive muscle relaxation training with guided imagery, systematic desensitization, attentional diversion or redirection, and biofeedback. We discuss the implications of this treatment research, paying particular attention to factors associated with treatment outcome, mechanisms of treatment effectiveness, and issues associated with clinical application.
ISSN:0033-2909
1939-1455
DOI:10.1037/0033-2909.104.3.307