A comparative descriptive study examining the perceptions of cancer patients, family caregivers, and nurses on patient symptom severity in Turkey.

PURPOSE: Perform a comparative descriptive study that aims to describe the symptom severity of patients receiving chemotherapy and to compare patient self-reports of symptom severity with inferences made by nurses and family caregivers.

METHODS AND SAMPLE: The study was performed in the chemotherapy unit of a university hospital. The study was conducted on 119 patients undergoing chemotherapy that had a family caregiver and a nurse (n = 7) primarily responsible for their care. Symptom assessments were completed using the Edmonton Symptom Assessment System (ESAS). Symptoms were rated independently by the patient, caregiver and nurse.

RESULTS: The patients reported severe tiredness, loss of well-being, anxiety, drowsiness, appetite changes, depression, pain and nausea. The patients and caregivers showed a strong agreement of the patients' symptoms (P < .001). Patients and nurses showed poor to fair agreement of the symptoms of pain, tiredness, nausea, depression, drowsiness, appetite, loss of well-being, skin and nail changes, mouth sores, and hand numbness (P < .05). The patients' mean scores of symptoms such as pain, depression, anxiety, drowsiness and loss of well-being were lower than those of the caregivers. The patients' mean scores of symptoms such as tiredness, shortness of breath, skin and nail changes and mouth sores were higher than scores of nurses (P < .05).

CONCLUSION: Perceptions of formal or informal caregivers about symptoms in patients with cancer will help clinicians to develop strategies or approaches to improve the caregiver symptom assessment.