Current Bladder Cancer Treatments May Adversely Af

Current Bladder Cancer Treatments May Adversely Affect Patients’ Psychosocial Well-Being

A study that was recently published in the “International Journal of Urological Nursing” found that intravesical therapy affected the physical, emotional and social well-being of patients who suffered from non-muscle invasive bladder cancer. The participants of the study underwent intravesical therapy together with either mitomycine (“MMC”) or Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (“BCG”) treatments. The objective of the authors of the study was to evaluate the psychosocial issues these study subjects experienced during therapy and what effects those challenges triggered.

In their report, the authors stated that the patients struggled to cope with treatment side effects, adding that this was in addition to having to cope with relationships, family and work, which caused them even more stress.

For their study, the researchers conducted an analysis of data collected from 80 participants who were between 40 and 94 years of age. The data had been collected at the Franciscus Gasthuis hospital’s urological department between June 2013 and July 2014 from patients who had already begun or were beginning treatment with MMC or BCG intravesical therapy. Male participants made up more than 80% of the study population. The data, which was gathered through questionnaires, was analyzed using psychosocial distress and tools used to screen symptoms.

The researchers found that intravesical therapy affected the magnitude of distress of more than 30% of the participants, with a focus on their physical, emotional and social well-being. They also discovered that the therapy strained roughly 16% of the patients’ sexuality and about 5% of the patients’ relationships. In addition, nearly 10% of patients reported that the therapy negatively affected their transportation, with another 4%, 2.5% and about 6%, revealing that it also impacted their child-care, finances and work, respectively.

In their report, the researchers stated that patients between the ages of 40 and 59 experienced the highest levels of distress; the researchers noted that the stress could be associated with work-related issues or the challenges of childcare. The study’s participants also reported that self-confidence, anxiety, concentration, gloom or depression and dealing with emotions in general, caused them distress. However, they indicated that they hadn’t found it necessary to visit a mental health practitioner for help with these issues.

The authors explained in their report that nurses needed to remain aware of the psychosocial challenges patients dealt with during therapy as nurses’ awareness played a crucial role in availing the needed information and counseling, which would help patients maintain a higher quality of life during the treatment’s duration. They also noted that nurses played a major role in urging patients to take part in physical activity, which also seemed to have a beneficial effect on patients’ well-being during their treatment.

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