Revista Latino-Americana de Enfermagem (Jun 2015)

Meanings of quality of life held by patients with colorectal cancer in the context of chemotherapy

  • Luciana Scatralhe Buetto,
  • Marcia Maria Fontão Zago

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1590/0104-1169.0455.2572
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 23, no. 3
pp. 427 – 434

Abstract

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OBJECTIVE: this study's aim was to interpret the meanings assigned to quality of life by patients with colorectal cancer undergoing chemotherapy.METHOD: the ethnographic method and the medical anthropology theoretical framework were used. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and participant observations with 16 men and women aged from 43 to 75 years old undergoing chemotherapy in a university hospital.RESULTS: the meanings and senses describe biographical ruptures, loss of normality of life, personal and social suffering, and the need to respond to chemotherapy's side effects; chemotherapy is seen as a transitional stage for a cure. Quality of life is considered unsatisfactory because the treatment imposes personal and social limitations and QoL is linked to resuming normal life.CONCLUSIONS: the meanings show the importance of considering sociocultural aspects in the conceptualization and assessment of quality of life.

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