Objective:
Studies in 1983, 1993, and 2002 identified patient perceptions (PP) and individual ranking of chemotherapy side effects (CSE). We aimed to update this survey and evaluate changes in patient perceptions a further decade later.
Methods:
Patients with breast (BC) and ovarian cancer (OC) were recruited in this prospective study before start of chemotherapy. At week 12 +/- 3 weeks after chemotherapy initiation patients were asked to identify out from 72 cards displaying potential physical and non-physical CSE the ten most burdensome and rank them finally to top five by severity. Results are reported for the entire group and in comparison to published data.
Results:
The most severe CSE among 126 patients (85 BC and 41 OC) was “difficulty sleeping” compared to “vomiting” in 1983, “nausea” in 1993, and “affects my family/partner” in 2002 (table 1). “Loss of hair” remained a top concern over all studies. The most severe CSE in BC patients was “loss of hair” in contrast to “difficulty sleeping“ in OC patients.
Tab. 1:
Comparison of the ranking of side effects from 1983 – 2017
|
Ranking of side effects
|
1983
(Coates et al.)
|
1993
(Griffin et al.)
|
2002
(Carelle et al.)
|
2017
Current study
|
|
1
|
Vomiting
|
Nausea
|
Affects my family or partner
|
Difficulty sleeping
|
|
2
|
Nausea
|
Constantly tired
|
Loss of hair
|
Affects my family or partner
|
|
3
|
Loss of hair
|
Loss of hair
|
Constantly tired
|
Loss of hair
|
|
4
|
Thought of coming treatment
|
Thought of coming treatment
|
Affects my work, home duties
|
Numbness in limbs
|
Conclusions:
PP of CSE have changed markedly over decades. Especially taxane related CSE are reported more frequently. However, “loss of hair” has remained an unsolved problem over decades.
