Concealment of Chemotherapy Drug Serum With a Picture Box Effect on Anxiety, Nausea and Vomiting in Children

Overview

The aim of this study was to present the results of the effect of concealing chemotherapy drug serum with a picture box on children's anxiety, nausea and vomiting. The study was planned with children aged 5-10 years who met the inclusion criteria. In this randomised controlled study, 70 children with cancer who are hospitalised in Marmara University Hospital and meet the inclusion criteria will be divided into two equal groups. The first group (intervention group) receives chemotherapy in chemotherapy boxes in which pictures made by the children are pasted before starting chemotherapy. In the second group (control group), children do not draw and chemotherapy boxes are not used. In both groups, the'' Child Anxiety Scale - State Anxiety Scale'' and the' Nausea - Vomiting Thermometer Scale in Children with Cancer'' will be used to assess children's state anxiety and nausea and vomiting. The scores given by the children will be noted by the researcher and the observer 5 minutes before the treatment and immediately after the end of the treatment in the scale scores section of the 'Child monitoring and evaluation form during chemotherapy'.

Childhood cancers require intensive health care and have a high burden of disease. Childhood cancers have turned into a chronic disease that causes increasing physical and psychosocial symptoms all over the world and in our country, rather than a fatal disease, due to developments in multi-agent chemotherapy protocols, the use of targeted chemotherapeutic agents, intrathecal applications and supportive care. Chemotherapy is accepted as the main treatment in childhood cancers. Symptoms related to chemotherapy in children diagnosed with cancer affect the continuity of treatment, life expectancy, morbidity, mortality and quality of life of the child. In the literature review, studies on anxiety, depression and behavioural changes in the first year after diagnosis reported that anxiety was an important problem after diagnosis and the number of children scoring in the at-risk/clinical range of depression was high. Nausea and vomiting is one of the most common symptoms in the treatment of childhood cancers. In studies, 60.9% of children receiving inpatient chemotherapy had nausea within one week after treatment. In a study on the presence, severity, risk factors and the effect on quality of life of symptoms related to nausea and vomiting in children with cancer in the first year of treatment, 41.8% and 42.9% of patients experienced nausea in the 3rd and 6th month after diagnosis, respectively. İn the literature review, no study was found to reduce anxiety, nausea and vomiting symptoms of children diagnosed with cancer by using art therapy together with cognitive method during chemotherapy by taking into account the smell, appearance and previous negative experiences of chemotherapy serum drug. In conclusion, cancer diagnosis, invasive interventions, long-term hospitalisation, long-term procedures, protocols and chemotherapy have negative effects on children.In this study, the effects of concealment of the drug serum during intravenous chemotherapy on anxiety, nausea and vomiting of children aged 5-10 years who are receiving chemotherapy for cancer will be compared. Art therapy, which is one of the therapeutic approaches during treatment, is aimed to improve the treatment process by diverting the child's attention and to change the negative feelings and thoughts caused by the smell, appearance, previous experiences of chemotherapy serum drug.