A prospective observational study of chemotherapy-induced adverse drug reaction and the quality of life in cancer patients in a tertiary care hospital.

AIM: The aim was to study the pattern of adverse drug reaction (ADR) provoked by anticancer therapy and to assess the quality of life (QoL) in cancer patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was conducted in Tamil Nadu on 75 patients from February to July 2019 taking into account their demographic profile, ADR occurrence and its causality, outcome, organ system-wise distribution of ADRs, and others. The causality assessment was done by using Naranjo's scale and QoL was assessed by the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General (FACT-G) scale. The QoL was compared in any two consecutive cycles between the 2nd and 5th cycles of chemotherapy. RESULTS: Out of the 75 patients, 17 male and 56 female patients developed ADR. A total of 228 ADRs were observed in 73 patients. The most commonly occurred ADR was nausea and vomiting (45%) and the most commonly affected system was gastrointestinal tract (37%). According to causality assessment, the ADR that occurred falls mostly in the category of probable (66.7%) followed by possible (29.3%) and the outcome of the ADR was mostly recovering (49.3%). The QoL was higher in females and in the age group of 40-49 years. The physical and emotional well-being of the patient were affected more. The overall QoL was improved in the 2nd visit when compared to the 1st visit. CONCLUSION: Cancer is known to cause a significant impact on the health and socioeconomics of a nation. To boost the QoL in patients, it is essential to identify and manage the ADRs by taking appropriate measures to promote judicious use of drugs.

Perceived stress, anxiety, and coping states in medical and engineering students during examinations.

AIM: This study aims to study the factors associated with stress, anxiety, and coping states in students of 1st and 2nd year in medical and engineering colleges during examinations. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This prospective, longitudinal study was conducted on 200 undergraduate medical and engineering students from 1st to 2nd year (50 in each year), after obtaining ethical approval from the institutional ethics committee. All the participants gave written informed consent. All students filled a questionnaire which consisted of a general information sheet, perceived stress scale, Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale, brief COPE inventory, and sources of stress questionnaire 1 month before and 1 month after their university examinations. Data were analyzed using t-test, Mann-Whitney U-test, Kruskal-Wallis test, and Chi-square test as appropriate. RESULTS: In medical students, perceived stress was significantly higher in those in the management quota (both years), living in shared accommodation and from nuclear family (1st year) and male (2nd year). Only accommodation had a statistically significant relationship with perceived stress in 2nd year engineering students. A statistically significant association of perceived stress and anxiety with academic performance was observed. Anxiety in students was significantly more before the examination compared to after the examination. The association of all the coping strategies used, with the academic performance, was statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: In both medical and engineering students, there was a significant association of perceived stress and anxiety with academic performance. Both medical and engineering students used active coping a little more than avoidant coping strategies during the examination time. The association of all the coping strategies used, with the academic performance, was statistically significant, thereby proving the importance of coping states in academic performance.