Evaluation of the Effect of Self-Efficacy on Symptoms in Gastrointestinal Cancer Patients.

Objective: The incidence of gastrointestinal cancer is increasing day by day and is among the highest 10 cancer types in the world. This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of self-efficacy of patients with gastrointestinal system cancer on symptom clusters. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted with 105 patients treated for gastrointestinal system cancer in a hospital located in the south of Turkey. In the study, patients over 18 years of age without hearing or speech impairment were included. To determine symptom clusters, Latent Profile Analysis and comparison of self-efficacy scale items by symptom clusters were performed with Chi-square, ANOVA, and Kruskal Wallis test. Results: The mean age of the patients was 58.83 ± 13.1 years; of the patients, 37.1% had colon ca, 21.9% had rectum ca. The patients had higher mean scores of fatigue, pain, feeling distressed, feeling sad, dry mouth, sleep disturbance, loss of appetite and nausea in the last week. The patients had higher mean scores of fatigue, pain, feeling distressed, feeling sad, dry mouth, sleep disturbance, loss of appetite and nausea in the last week. Three symptom clusters were determined by latent profile analysis; high, moderate, mild. It was determined that the level of self-efficacy was high in the symptom cluster which is low symptom severity and number of symptoms (p < .05). Conclusion: The number and the severity of symptoms are lower in patients with high self-efficacy perceptions.

Evaluation of the relationship between health literacy and self-efficacy: A sample of hemodialysis patients.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to evaluate self-efficacy and health literacy of patients undergoing hemodialysis, to investigate the relationship between health literacy and self-efficacy, and to determine the factors affecting self-efficacy. METHODS: The study was conducted in Eskisehir and Gumushane state hospitals affiliated to the Public Hospitals Association with the participation of 198 patients receiving hemodialysis treatment for chronic renal failure. The inclusion criteria were as follows: being ⩾18 years old, receiving hemodialysis, and agreeing to participate in the study. The study data were collected using face-to-face interview technique, and they were analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation, and regression analysis. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 59.73 ± 16.32 years. Of the patients, 46% were primary school graduates, and 63.6% reported having other chronic diseases. The mean health literacy and self-efficacy scores were found to be 79.43 ± 26.09 and 23.98 ± 7.42, respectively. The results showed that the self-efficacy scores of the patients increased as the general health literacy scores increased, with a strong linear correlation between these variables (r = 0.712; p ˂ 0.001). Patients with advanced age, low educational level, and widowed patients had lower self-efficacy and health literacy scores than others (respectively eta2 = 0.263, 0.116, 0.268, 0.141). CONCLUSION: High score of health literacy positively affects the self-efficacy score of hemodialysis patients.

The Effect of Progressive Muscle Relaxation Exercises on Pain on Patients with Sickle Cell Disease: Randomized Controlled Study.

PURPOSE: The study aimed to evaluate the effect of progressive muscle relaxation exercises on pain in patients with sickle cell disease. MATERIALS-METHOD: This randomized controlled interventional study was conducted in a hospital in Mersin, Turkey between October 2017 and July 2018. The study sample comprised 58 patients who were aged >18 years, conscious, had sickle cell disease, reported pain, and were treated with non-opioid or weak opioid analgesic based on the physician's recommendation (treatment group = 29, control group = 29). Data were collected by the individual presentation form and visual analog scale. During the study, both groups were treated with analgesics prescribed by the physician for three days. In addition to the analgesics, the treatment group was performed progressive muscle relaxation exercises for 30 minutes whereas the control group was rested. Pain level of both groups was evaluated at three time points every day for three days. In the study, frequency distributions and descriptive statistics were presented for categorical and numerical variables, respectively. Chi-square analysis, independent samples t-test, Mann-Whitney U test, three-way ANOVA, and Sidak test were used to analyze the difference between the variables. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 29.59 ± 6.94 years, and 53.4% of the patients were female and 69% were single. The mean pain score of the treatment group at the third time point on days 1, 2, and 3 was significantly lower than the control group (p < .05). There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups in terms of coping methods for pain, pain location, and complaints accompanying pain (p > .05). CONCLUSION: Progressive muscle relaxation exercises were found to be effective in the pain management of patients with sickle cell anemia.