Past Happiness and Broken Future Horizon of Oncological Patients during Chemotherapy-A Quantitative Exploration of a Phenomenological Hypothesis.

Understanding the impact of cancer on the experience of time is crucial in the context of hope and recovery. This study, a follow-up to a previous qualitative study of ovarian cancer patients - explored two types of such experiences-the memory of past happiness and the limited future planning. A sociodemographic questionnaire with nine questions about the experience of time was used on a convenience sample of 202 patients with various cancers, predominantly women with breast, ovarian, and cervical cancer. It was found that the respondents experienced increased focus on the present, decreased focus on the future, and a sense of unpredictability, with a relatively short temporal horizon measured in weeks and months, not years. Almost half of the respondents (46%) measured time during treatment by the rhythm of chemotherapy and check-ups, which thus appeared as the most meaningful events. The increase in the frequency with which patients underwent chemotherapy mildly affected their focus on the present (R = 0.25, p < 0.05), likely because of the discomfort of the side effects. The correlations between age and time in treatment, on the one hand, and the experience of time, on the other, were negligible. Changed temporal experience during chemotherapy is a factor that can have an impact on patients' well-being and ability to cope with the disease. It thus should be taken into account when planning oncology care.

The rhythm of chemotherapy and the felt experience of time: a front-loaded phenomenological retrospective cohort study.

It is well-known that chemotherapy brings about various adverse physical effects such as fatigue, nausea, or vomiting, and that it lowers mental well-being. It is less known that it desynchronizes patients with social environment. This study explores the temporal aspects and challenges of chemotherapy. Three groups equal in size and distinguished according to weekly, biweekly, and triweekly treatment schemes, each independently representative in terms of sex and age of the cancer population (total N = 440) were compared. The study found that chemotherapy sessions, regardless of their frequency, patients' age, and the overall length of treatment, have a very large effect on changing the felt pace of time from flying to dragging (Cohen's d = 1.6655). Most patients pay more attention to the passing of time than before treatment (59.3%), which has to do with the disease (77.4%). They also experience the loss of control over time, which they subsequently attempt to regain. The patients' actual activities before and after chemotherapy, however, are mostly the same. All these aspects create a unique 'chemo-rhythm', in which the significance of the type of cancer and demographic variables is negligible, and the mere rhythmic nature of treatment plays a central role. In conclusion, patients find the 'chemo-rhythm' stressful, unpleasant and difficult to control. It is vital to prepare them for it and help to reduce its adverse effects.

Chemotherapy, clocks, and the awareness of death: A quantitative phenomenological study.

Following a previous phenomenological study of lived time in ovarian cancer, this research aims to find how the frequency of chemotherapy affects orientation in time (the so-called "chemo-clock") and the awareness of mortality of service users with various cancers. For this purpose, a variation of a front-loaded phenomenological method that combines scientific hypothesis testing with phenomenological insights of both conceptual and qualitative nature was developed. The study is based on a purposive quota sample of 440 participants representative of the Polish cancer population in terms of sex (m:f ratio 1:1) and age (m > 65 = 61%; f > 65 = 53%) and undergoing chemotherapy for at least a month. The exposure environmental factors of interest are temporal: the frequency of chemotherapy [weekly (N = 150), biweekly (N = 146), and triweekly (N = 144)] and time since the beginning of treatment. The study confirms the relevance of the "chemo-clock"-participants use the pace of hospital appointments for orientation in time, and significantly more often when in triweekly treatments (weekly 38%; biweekly 61%; triweekly 69.4%; V = 0.242, p < 0.001, while neither age nor time since the beginning of treatment differentiate the usage of calendar categories and the "chemo-clock"). Simultaneously, chemotherapy increases their awareness of finitude, which again correlates neither with age nor time since the beginning of treatment but is significantly stronger in those with lower chemotherapy frequencies. Lower treatment frequencies are thus associated with its increased significance in terms of its impact on how people with cancer measure time and whether they increasingly consider their mortality.

Lived time in ovarian cancer - A qualitative phenomenological exploration.

PURPOSE: To explore lived time of women with ovarian cancer during chemotherapy. METHODS: Consensual qualitative research combined with descriptive phenomenology on a purposive sample of 9 middle-aged women (aged between 33 and 52 years, mean age 41.7) with ovarian cancer undergoing chemotherapy in an outpatient chemo center in a clinical hospital. Patients partnered in the design of the study by reviewing the research questions. RESULTS: Four essential temporal structures were uncovered, namely: 1) Explicit finitude - the vivid presence of the thoughts of one's limited lifespan and of time passing towards death. 2) Broken horizon - a sense of an overwhelming unpredictability of life that makes one living in the narrow present. 3) The paradoxes of the chemo-clock - treatment rhythm becoming a basis for the conceptualization of time while lived experience both decelerates and accelerates. 4) Happiness closed-off by regret - the past being distantiated yet present in the form of thoughts about actions that have not been accomplished and no longer can. CONCLUSION: The research shows unsecure lived time of participants, particularly anxiety concerning premature death and fear of the future due to harsh prognosis. The proposed hybrid method of collecting and analyzing data is an example of combining phenomenological and scientific-objectifying procedures. It can lead to wider replications in different populations with respect to type and stage of the cancer and treatment.

"From chemo to chemo"-the temporal paradox of chemotherapy.

PURPOSE: To uncover the experience of time in women undergoing chemotherapy for ovarian cancer. METHODS: A combination of consensual qualitative research and Giorgi's descriptive phenomenology. RESULTS: The key phenomenon found and pre-reflectively organizing the patients' experience was the temporal paradox of chemotherapy-a sense of both acceleration and deceleration in between chemotherapy sessions that desynchronizes patients with the time of others. CONCLUSION: The experienced paradoxes concentrating around the timings of the chemotherapy treatments are of particular relevance for supportive care. It is particularly important to acknowledge the disturbing effect of the cyclical nature of chemotherapy.

Determinants of moral attitudes toward stem cells.

BACKGROUND: The paper presents an analysis of opinions concerning the use of stem cells (SCs), using tools developed in the field of moral psychology. OBJECTIVES: To determine the factors that affect beliefs regarding the status of SCs and to evaluate the impact of these factors. The paper investigated whether factors of a moral nature prevail over the knowledge that makes it possible to use SCs in practice. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The analysis of psychological perception is based on a study carried out on a group of 172 Polish and 161 English-speaking first-year medical students. The study was conducted between 2005 and 2007, and in 2019 at the Poznan University of Medical Sciences (Poland). RESULTS: Knowledge is not the main factor that differentiates approaches towards the use of SCs. The importance of religion in the lives of the respondents has a significant impact on the perception of the use of SCs, and is associated with indications of ethically saturated terms. Focusing on the usefulness of cells is associated with lesser significance of religion and greater value placed on scientific knowledge. CONCLUSIONS: Although the research results indicate a correlation between religiousness and the respondents' perception of the use of SCs, further research is needed into the relationship between the influence of scientific knowledge on views related to SCs.