Effects Of Progressive Muscle Relaxation Training On Nausea And Vomiting Induced By Chemotherapy In Lung Cancer Patients

Background:Chemotherapy induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) is one of the common side effects in the process of treatment of lung cancer. In the case of using antiemetics, nausea and vomiting are not controlled very well. Therefore, researchers tried to use non-pharmaceutical interventions to alleviate the symptoms. The advantages of progressive muscle relaxation training compared with other approach are it is easy to do and do not need professionals to instruct. However, a few preexisting studies assessed effects of intervention according to different phases (Acute phase and Delayed phase), even in the studies which involved different phases, the division of the 2 phases is not clear. As a consequence, it is necessary to explore the effects of progressive muscle relaxation training under the premise of distinguishing acute phase and delayed phases.Objective:To explore the effects of progressive muscle relaxation training (PMRT) in reducing nausea and vomiting induced by chemotherapy in acute and delayed phases in lung cancer patients.Methods:This was a quasi-experimental study.72 chemotherapy-naive lung cancer patients were recruited from July to December 2015 in a cancer hospital in Beijing by convenience sampling method. Patients were divided into 2 groups according to the time they were recruited,36 Patients recruited before November were assigned into control group, and the rest were assigned into the experimental group. Patients in control group received antiemetics to prevent vomiting, at the same time, the researcher distributed the brochure Coping Method of Chemotherapy-Induced Nausea and Vomiting. Based on this, patients in experimental group received progressive muscle relaxation training twice everyday and it spent 25 minutes each time, the relaxation training lasted for two chemotherapy cycles. During the chemotherapy period, the training were conducted 1 hour before and after chemotherapy; After the session of chemotherapy, relaxation training were conducted in the morning and afternoon everyday. Incidents of nausea and vomiting, frequency of vomiting, severity of nausea of all patients were measured by MASCC Antiemesis Tool (MAT) for 7 days from the beginning of chemotherapy in each cycle.Results:65 patients (33 in control group,32 in experimental group) were observed in two chemotherapy cycle finally. Results showed that:(1) The comparison of severity of nausea between two groups:the severity in experimental group was lower than control group in delayed phase (P<0.05) while there is no significant differences between 2 groups in acute phase; (2) The comparison of frequency of vomiting between two groups: the vomiting times in experimental group were significant less than that in control group in delayed phase(P<0.05), however, the differences in acute phase were not noticeable; (3) The comparison of incidents of nausea between two groups:the differences were not obvious no matter in acute phase or delayed phase; (4) The comparison of incidents of vomiting between two groups:the differences were not significant no matter in acute phase or delayed phase; (5) The comparison between two cycles of experimental group: the severity of nausea, incidents of nausea and vomiting, frequency of vomiting in 2nd chemotherapy cycle were all lower than that in the 1st cycle though the differences were not statistically significant.Conclusions:Progressive muscle relaxation training can significantly reduce vomiting frequency and severity of nausea in delayed phase while antiemetics can effectively control the symptom in acute phase. Moreover, doing relaxation training between cycles of chemotherapy could help patients adjust negative emotions and make contribute to relieve nausea and vomiting of next chemotherapy course. The study provide a reference for the clinic in terms of better manage nausea and vomiting in acute and delayed phases.