The Cognitive Experiences Of Gastrointestinal Cancer Patients Completed Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy:a Qualitative Research

ObjectiveTo explore the gastrointestinal cancer patients’ cognitive experience of completing neoadjuvant chemotherapy (N ACT).Methods14 gastrointestinal cancer patients who had completed NACT were identified by purposive sampling in the outpatient departments of a tertiary hospitals in Shanghai from January to October,2013. Telephone interview was used to explore their cognitive experience when they were receiving NACT. Data were analyzed and sorted by Colaizzi’s method of 7-step data analysis.ResultsThree category,nine themes were emerged from the data as followed:1 The main understanding of NACT:NACT could make the tumor shrink, which is a positive treatment method;NACT is the necessary preparation for a good surgery outcome,so a good adherence is important;NACT is a treatment method of palliative care.2 The main concern for NACT:The effect of NACT is uncertainty;NACT has an adverse effect;NACT brings patients with the economic burden.3 The related factors to facilitate or hamper a good cognitive experiences to NACT:patients’good sense of trust to medical stuff;patients’ active family emotional support;the accessibility and convenience of medical resources during the patients’ NACT periods.ConclusionsGastrointestinal cancer patients’ understanding of NACT is multifaceted,which could affect their adherence in a variant way.1 Doctors are supposed to elaborate the knowledge about NACT to patients,make them fully understand the positive benefit and possible risk about NACT,so that they could make a reasonable treatment decision.2 Medical stuff should strengthen the communication with patients,provide them with the health education in any time, care for patients,so a real trust between patients and doctors could be built to facilitate a good patient adherence to NACT.3 Doctors should take measures to help patients make NACT decision which consistent with their economic ability, medical stuff should make use of patients’ family support system to improve their treatment confidence.4 Optimize the configuration of medical and health resources to avoid a poor NACT adherence due to the poor accessibility and convenience to medical resources.