Nutritional issues and self-care measures adopted by cancer patients attending a university hospital in Turkey
Objective: This study aimed to assess the nutritional status of cancer patients and the self-care measures they adopted as a response to nutritional problems. Methods: This descriptive study included seventy cancer patients staying in the oncology and internal disease clinics of a university hospita...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2016-01-01
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| Series: | Asia-Pacific Journal of Oncology Nursing |
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| Online Access: | http://www.apjon.org/article.asp?issn=2347-5625;year=2016;volume=3;issue=4;spage=390;epage=395;aulast=Kapucu |
| Summary: | Objective: This study aimed to assess the nutritional status of cancer patients and the self-care measures they adopted as a response to nutritional problems. Methods: This descriptive study included seventy cancer patients staying in the oncology and internal disease clinics of a university hospital in Turkey. Data were collected using a questionnaire with 29 questions. Results: The mean age of participants was 40.2 1.82 years. Approximately, 62.9% of the patients ate only half of the meals offered to them, 65.7% experienced weight loss, and 45.7% had difficulty eating their meals on their own. Moreover, 47.1% of the patients received nutritional support and nutritional problems were observed in 71.4% of the patients; 80% were unable to eat hospital food, 54.3% had an eating disorder related to a special diet, 30% suffered from loss of appetite, 27% had nausea, and 14.3% had difficulty swallowing. Furthermore, 48.5% of patients responded that they ate home-cooked food or ordered food from outside when questioned about the self-care measures taken to avoid the aforementioned nutritional problems. Conclusions: Most of the cancer patients had serious nutritional problems and ate home-cooked food and used nutritional supplements to overcome these problems. Oncology nurses are responsible for evaluating the nutritional status of cancer patients and eliminating nutritional problems. |
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| ISSN: | 2347-5625 2349-6673 |