Symptom Management for Bladder Cancer in Thailand

Abstract

© 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. and BAUN Understanding the symptom experiences and management strategies of people with bladder cancer is important for nurses. Awareness of outcomes of the strategies used can enable health care practitioners to provide effective advice to bladder cancer patients. We aimed to examine symptom experiences in patients with each cancer grade; to survey symptom management strategies and outcomes. This study was a cross-sectional survey design. A total of 62 patients receiving care in a northern Thailand university hospital during December 2011 and June 2012 were recruited as subjects. Participants completed a modified questionnaire based on the framework of the symptom management model. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The findings revealed: (i) the three most frequent and severe symptoms in the high grade group were frequent urination, constipation and anxiety; in the low grade group were frequent urination, fatigue and anxiety: (ii) the symptom management strategies revealed correspondence in both groups as follows: for frequent urination strategies were consulting a physician, restricting fluids, using herbs and doing nothing; for constipation strategies were taking a laxative, eating tamarind, eating vegetables/high-fibre fruits and using a suppository; for anxiety strategies were prayer, going to the temple, meditating, talking with family/friends, relaxing, taking up a hobby, resting and consulting a physician; for fatigue strategies were resting, using supplements and consulting a physician: (iii) the outcomes revealed that most of the strategies showed positive outcomes. Positive outcomes could be used as a guide in providing recommendations to patients with bladder cancer and to support further research in this area. Further work is needed to develop interventions that work for specific symptoms.