Efficacy of Pharmaceutical Care for Patients with Lung Cancer Undergoing Chemotherapy: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

Purpose: Platinum drugs or other chemotherapies are still widely used in treating lung cancer, causing adverse effects on patients’ emotions and quality of life (QoL) the patients. Chemotherapeutic pharmaceutical care is necessary for patients with lung cancer to relieve side effects and enhance therapeutic efficacy. This study aimed to investigate the pharmaceutical care contribution to improvements in cancer-related fatigue (CRF), negative emotions, and QoL in lung cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. Methods: Patients were divided into control and intervention groups. Patients in the control group received chemotherapy, whereas patients in the intervention group received pharmaceutical care combined with chemotherapy. CRF, negative emotions, and QoL were evaluated throughout the admission and the second and fourth chemotherapy cycles. Results: After two chemotherapy cycles, the intervention group had lower emotional, physical fatigue, and negative-emotion scores (p < 0.01) and higher QoL scores related to emotion, function, and additional lung cancer concerns (p < 0.01) than the control group. Similarly, after four cycles of chemotherapy, the intervention group had lower emotional, physical, cognitive fatigue, and negative emotion scores (p < 0.01) and a better total QoL score (p < 0.01) than the control group. In addition, the remission rate (RR) of patients after receiving pharmaceutical care was significantly increased compared to the group receiving chemotherapy alone (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Pharmaceutical care could significantly improve CRF, negative emotions, and QoL in lung cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.