The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Care and Treatment of Cancer Patients

Authors : Gülsün Özdemir Aydın, Nuray Turan, Nurten Kaya, Çiğdem İşçi, Rana Alataş, Gülsüm Aslan

Pages : 266-273

Doi:10.31067/acusaglik.1282511

View : 45 | Download : 90

Publication Date : 2024-07-01

Article Type : Other

Abstract :Background/Pupose: This study was conducted to determine the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the care and treatment of cancer patients. Materials and Methods: The population of this descriptive and cross-sectional study consisted of all inpatients in the Ear Nose and Throat (ENT) Clinic of a university hospital between March and August 2021, and the sample included a total of 78 patients who had been diagnosed with cancer, met the inclusion criteria, and were selected using the purposive sampling method. Data were collected using a Patient Information Form and the Presence of Nursing Scale. The data were analyzed on the IBM SPSS Statistic 21 software package. Results: Patients mean age was 57.54±9.83 years (min.-max.: 37-78), 69.2% (n=54) were male, and 84.6% (n=66) did not have a job. The examination of the characteristics of the patients regarding cancer indicated that 50% (n=39) had laryngeal cancer, the cancer diagnosis had been made an average 19.73±26.19 (min.-max.: 4-132) months ago, most of the patients’ cancer was in the second 34.6% (n=27) and third 34.6% (n=27) stage, and that 88.5% (n=69) of the patients did not have metastasis. Some of the patients stated that there were no disruptions in the diagnosis 69.2% (n=54) and treatment 76.9% (n=60) of their disease during the pandemic. They also stated that the pandemic did not cause the progression of the disease 69.2% (n=54), they did not delay coming to the hospital 65.4% (n=51), and that they did not hesitate to come to the controls 69.2% (n=54). All of the patients 100.0% (n=78) stated that they wore masks during the pandemic. In addition, they said that they could contact their physicians 46.2% (n=36) and their nurses 7.7% (n=6) during the pandemic. The mean score of the patients on the Presence of Nursing Scale was 110.62±14.83 (min. = 75, max. = 120). Conclusion: While the COVID-19 pandemic did not have a major impact on the cancer care and treatment of the patients in the study, their efforts to cope with cancer continued. In addition, the patients felt that the nurse was with them emotionally in the hospital environment and stated that the nurse did many things for them physically, but the rate of contacting the nurse while they were outside the hospital was very low.
Keywords : Cancer, ear, nose and throat clinic, COVID-19, nursing