Perceived Well-Being, Social Support, and Self-Management Behavior among Women Experiencing Chemotherapy-Related Nausea and Vomiting in A Tertiary Hospital in Lahore, Pakistan

Abstract

Objective: The basic objective is to determine the level of the self-management behaviors (SMB), perceived well-being, and social support of patients in the outpatient settings at tertiary care hospital at Lahore Pakistan. It also explores if there is any significant relationship among all three variables.Methods: A descriptive-correlational study design has been used. The data have been collected at single setting of 32-bedded chemotherapy unit of a tertiary care hospital of Pakistan. The purposive sampling method has been employed. The IBM SPSS version 20 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA) has been utilized for statistical analyses. Results: A total of 317 patients' data were analyzed. The average age of patients was 42 years, and they received chemotherapy for different cancers. It was revealed that the SMB, for example, taking anti-emetics on time, and applying physical and cognitive distractions, have strong association with psychological, social, physical, and emotional dimensions of the perceived well-being. Similar self-managing strategies have associations with the provision of social support from the health-care team, personal, and family side. Conclusions: To conclude, the most common self-care methods of women receiving chemo are pharmacological management, applying physical and cognitive distraction, executing relaxation measures to control chemo-induced nausea.

Keywords

• perceived well-being
• self-management behaviors
• social support