|
|
The quality of life at children with oncology desease
HERKUCZOVÁ, Lenka
This diploma thesis is trying to figure out how is oncological disease and it´ s treatment affecting survivors life after curing the disease. Acute leukemia and its challenging and often aggressive treatment leaves many different late effects. Quality of life is a subjective assessment which to some extent depends on the nature of the individual. Even so, it is necessary to evaluate and examine the quality of life beacuse the results of researches can help other patients, but also nurses, doctors, psychologists and other helping professions. The theoretic part of the thesis describes the current state of the problem, introduces the basic and fundamental specifics of children's cancer, the treatment, the after-effects, deals with the description of the psychological problems of patients and their caregivers, which provides diagnosis itself, but also the treatment of the disease. It also introduces the psychological care about oncological ill patiens and the roles of the nurses in careing for the oncological patiens. Another part of the theoretical work is an introduction to the measurement and evaluation of quality of life. Work also introduces the leukemia disease, which is one of the most commonly diagnosed cancer diseases in children. The thesis has three goals. The first one is to determine how the treatment of the oncological disease affects life of survivors. The second one is to determine how children perceive various limitations of social contact that the treatment brings. The last third objective is to determine whether the cancer experience affects the attitude of the survivor children to live. In the practical part of the research was used quantitative research. The technique of data collection was standardized questionnaire Minneapolis Manchester Quality of Life Instrument which is divided into two versions for younger and older children. The research was also used for statistical evaluation of hypotheses. The questionnaire was distributed to children aged 8 - 18 years who were 2 - 5 years after treatment. The control group were the same aged healthy peers. Four hypotheses were determined. H1: Cured children have more difficulties in social functioning than healthy children. It was found that cured children have better outcomes in social functioning than their peers, hypothesis H1 is thus not confirmed. H2: Cured children have less energy for physical activities than healthy children. This hypothesis was confirmed neither in older or younger children. H3: Cured children are more satisfied with their appearance than healthy children. This hypothesis was based on the research and statistical verification verified. Last investigated hypothesis was H4: Cured children have more problems in cognitive functioning than healthy children. Based on the statistical verification hypothesis was not confirmed. The research and statistical studies show that cured children have the same or in some areas even better quality of life than their healthy peers 2 - 5 years after the end of active treatment. The nurse should be able to help and advise the patient and should emphatically and nicely cooperate with the family for which it is often even worse than for the patients themselves. This diploma thesis will be used for making of an internal seminars for nurses working at the Clinic of Pediatric Oncology. Nurses working at the bedsides of the patiens can use this theses as a feedback of thein work. Knowledge of late effects of anticancer therapy is essential to providing a high - quality care and application of evidence - based nursing in practice.
|
guest ::
