Impact of cancer on Nepalese patients and their caretakers

Abstract

Introduction: Cancer is today’s burning healthcare issue. Disease itself as well as side effects from treatment has massive impact on patients’ lives. Tragic disease consequences happen, further worsened by inevitable adverse reactions of treatment. This study attempts to measure the various impact of disease among Nepalese cancer patients and their caretakers.

Methods: This was a hospital based descriptive cross sectional study conducted in Bhaktapur Cancer Hospital for two months on l98 adult cancer patients and 20 caretakers. Face to face interview was done with semi structured interview schedule, 0-10 Numeric Pain Intensity Scale, Kuppuswamy’s Socioeconomic Status Scale and Beck’s Depression Inventory. Data entry and analysis was done on IBM SPSS V20.

Results: Disease was seen in advanced age group with no sex wise variations. Majority was married, literate, from rural area, of upper caste and upper lower socioeconomic status. Cancer of lung, rectum and bile duct were more frequent in male in contrary to that of breast, ovary and cervix in female. Majority suffered from various impact of disease and side effects of the treatment like pain, depression, fatigue, weight loss, diminished physical activity and financial burden. Family members were equally prone to depression.

Conclusion: Patients and their families are cosufferers in the battle against cancer. To confront the mounting impact of cancer epidemic in Nepal, cancer should be given high priority in national health programs, and population based cancer registry should be immediately established.