EFFECTS OF A STRUCTURED TEACHING PROGRAM FOR CANCER PATIENTS UNDERGOING HEAD AND NECK RADIATION THERAPY ON ANOREXIA, NUTRITIONAL STATUS, FUNCTIONAL STATUS, TREATMENT RESPONSE AND QUALITY OF LIFE.
Contributors: University of California, San Francisco.
Published: 1987
Number of pages: 304
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: The patient with head and neck cancer undergoing radiation therapy is vulnerable to anorexia, defined as a decrease in appetite associated with a decrease in dietary intake, and potentially leading to nutritional depletion. Infrequently tested clinical interventions for anorexia include helping patients manage side effects, and learning about needed dietary intake.

Physical, psychological, and sociocultural factors interfering with food intake in cancer patients were identified from the literature. Using a multifactorial redundant model of food intake, a structured teaching program was designed to provide patients with ways to interrupt anorexia and to diminish nutritional depletion. The purpose of this study was to test the effects of this program on anorexia, nutritional status, functional status, treatment response, and quality of life.

The study sample consisted of 41 subjects undergoing radiation therapy for head and neck cancer and randomized to the structured teaching program (n = 21) or the 'usual care' group (n = 20). Age ranged from 24 to 84 with a mean of 56.

Despite randomization, two major variables differed significantly between groups. The experimental group reported greater weight loss prior to the onset of therapy (5.4 kg versus 2.5 kg, p = 0.05) and received a higher dosage of radiation treatment to site 2 of the radiation field (p = 0.03). Each of these factors had a potential to exacerbate weight loss during the treatment period.

Results showed significantly higher scores on nutrition knowledge for the experimental group at the end of the treatment period (p = 0.05). Three important, but not statistically significant, trends occurred. The experimental group reported lower appetite scores, maintained a consistently higher caloric and protein intake, and lost weight at a rate no faster than the control group. No differences were found in relation to age, functional status, treatment response, or quality of life.

Findings provide evidence that a structured teaching program may reduce the expected decrease in dietary intake during radiation therapy in spite of decreased appetite. In addition, findings support the need to include both the subjective measurement of appetite and the objective measurement of dietary intake in descriptions of anorexia in cancer patients.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 48-11, Section: B, page: 3248.

Thesis (D.N.SC.)--UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO, 1987.

School code: 0034.