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Vol.59 No.5 contents

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- Original Article -

Impact of Pharmaceutical Counseling on Chemotherapy-related Anxiety in Lung Cancer Patients

Tomohiro Osawa¹, Takaaki Hasegawa², Michi Umeda¹, Teppei Makino¹, Satoshi Aoyama¹, Masahiro Yasuda¹, Takashi Mizui¹, Tsutomu Yoshida³, Toshiyuki Sawa⁴, Chitoshi Goto^1
1Department of Pharmacy, Gifu Municipal Hospital, Japan, ²Division of Psycho-oncology and Palliative Care, Nagoya City University Hospital, Japan, ³Department of Respiratory Medicine and Medical Oncology, ⁴Cancer Center, Gifu Municipal Hospital, Japan

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Objective. Patients with cancer often experience anxiety related to the side effects of chemotherapy. Pharmaceutical counseling is mandated for pharmacists to ensure safe and effective medication therapy. However, the impact of pharmaceutical counseling on chemotherapy-related anxiety has not yet been well established. We therefore examined the effect of pharmaceutical counseling on anxiety about the side effects of chemotherapy. Methods. Forty-six patients with lung cancer who were hospitalized at the Department of Respiratory Medicine and Medical Oncology of Gifu Municipal Hospital between November 2015 and December 2016 were enrolled as subjects. We administered questionnaires before and after pharmaceutical counseling to evaluate anxiety about the side effects of chemotherapy (visual analogue scale of 0-100 mm), comprehension of chemotherapy (5-point Likert scale), and other factors. We then used a multivariate analysis to compare these factors before and after pharmaceutical counseling. Results. Anxiety about the side effects of therapy was significantly reduced after pharmaceutical counseling in comparison to before counseling (p<0.01). The multivariate analysis demonstrated that increased comprehension of coping methods during side effect development significantly mitigated anxiety about side effects (odds ratio=0.056; 95% confidence interval=0.007-0.471; p=0.008). Conclusions. Ensuring that lung cancer patients understand how to cope with side effects might help to reduce anxiety about such side effects.
key words: Lung cancer, Pharmacist, Chemotherapy, Side effect, Anxiety

Received: January 25, 2019
Accepted: June 18, 2019

JJLC 59 (5): 458-462, 2019