Observational Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2022. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Feb 26, 2022; 10(6): 1826-1833
Published online Feb 26, 2022. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v10.i6.1826
Empathetic nursing with mindful cognitive therapy for fatigue, depression, and negative emotions in leukemia patients undergoing long-term chemotherapy
Ying-Ying Lu, Xiao-Min Lu, Chun-Yan Shao, Chen-Chen Wang, Ting-Ting Xu, Bei-Lei Zhang
Ying-Ying Lu, Xiao-Min Lu, Chun-Yan Shao, Chen-Chen Wang, Ting-Ting Xu, Bei-Lei Zhang, Department of Medical Oncology, Affiliated Haian Hospital of Nantong University, Haian 226600, Jiangsu Province, China
Author contributions: Lu YY performed the data analysis and wrote the manuscript; Lu XM designed the study and prepared the figures and tables; Shao CY corrected the manuscript; Wang CC, Xu TT, and Zhang BL participated in data collection; all authors approved the final manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: This study was approved by Affiliated Haian Hospital of Nantong University Ethics Committee.
Informed consent statement: Informed written consent was obtained from the patients for publication of this report.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflicts of interest associated with this article.
Data sharing statement: Technical appendix, statistical code, from the corresponding author.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement-checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement-checklist of items.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Chun-Yan Shao, Nurse, Department of Medical Oncology, Affiliated Haian Hospital of Nantong University, No. 17 Zhongba Middle Road, Haian 226600, Jiangsu Province, China. scyyan12@163.com
Received: November 21, 2021
Peer-review started: November 21, 2021
First decision: December 9, 2021
Revised: December 23, 2021
Accepted: January 11, 2022
Article in press: January 11, 2022
Published online: February 26, 2022
Processing time: 94 Days and 3.3 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Leukemia is a broad term for blood cell cancer. Leukemia is divided into acute or chronic, depending on cell differentiation. Leukemia patients are prone to adverse reactions during chemotherapy, such as anxiety, depression, and even suicide, affecting prognosis. As a nursing model developed by three well-known cognitive psychologists, empathetic nursing with mindfulness cognitive therapy (ENMCT) can effectively reduce anxiety and depression and improve the quality of life in patients with chronic disease.

AIM

To explore the effect of ENMCT on cancer-induced fatigue, hope level, and negative emotions in patients with long-term leukemia chemotherapy.

METHODS

A total of 103 patients with long-term leukemia chemotherapy diagnosed and treated in our hospital from July 2017 to October 2019 were enrolled and randomly assigned to observation and control groups using the random number table approach. Fifty-one patients in the control group received routine nursing, while 52 patients in the observation group received empathic nursing with mindfulness cognitive therapy. After three months of nursing care, cancer-induced fatigue was measured with the Piper Fatigue Scale (PFS), hope level with the Herth Hope Index (HHI), and negative emotion with the Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAMA)/Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD). Self-management (Chinese Strategies Used by People to Promote Health) was also recorded.

RESULTS

The observation group’s total scores in behavior, cognition, emotion, feeling, and PFS were lower than the control group after the intervention (P < 0.05). Keeping close contact with others, the attitude of taking positive actions, the attitude toward reality and future, and the total HHI score were higher in the observation group than the control group (P < 0.05). The observation group’s HAMA and HAMD scores were lower than the control group (P < 0.05). The observation group’s positive attitude, self-decision, and self-relief scores were greater than the control group (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

Empathetic nursing with cognitive mindfulness therapy is beneficial in improving cancer-related fatigue, negative emotions, expectation level, and self-management ability in patients with long-term leukemia chemotherapy.

Keywords: Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy; Empathetic nursing; Leukemia; Chemotherapy; Cancer-induced fatigue; Hope level; Negative emotions

Core Tip: Leukemia often results in a heavy burden to patients’ families and society. A total of 103 patients with long-term leukemia chemotherapy were assessed to explore the effect of empathetic nursing with mindfulness cognitive therapy (ENMCT) on leukemia-induced fatigue, hope level, and negative emotions. After three months of nursing care, various indicators, such as the Piper fatigue scale, and the Herth hope index, provided conclusion. Our results suggest that ENMCT improves cancer-related fatigue, negative emotions, expectation level, and self-management in patients with long-term leukemia chemotherapy.