Are we Helpless in Lung Cancer? Discharge Program for Symptom Control: An Experimental Case-Control Study

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to establish the effectiveness of a discharge program on symptom control and quality of life in patients with lung cancer. Research Approach and Settings: Experimental case-control study study. This study was conducted at Ege University, in İzmir, Turkey. Routine clinic patient care was administered to the control group whilst a discharge program was administered to the experimental group. Methods: Karnofsky Performance Scale, LCSS, and the EORTC QLQ C-30 and LC-13 Quality Of Life Questionnaire were used in both groups three times in six weeks. Results: A statistically significant difference was detected between the scores of fatigue, dyspnea, pain, role function, social function and, global quality of life in the repeated measures of the patients in the experimental groups (p<.05). A significant improvement was observed within a period of 6 weeks in quality of life and symptom severity levels of patients who had lung cancer and to whom a discharge program was applied. Conclusions: It may be suggested that discharge planning is an effective tool for the care of patients with lung cancer. Implications for Nursing: These results, which can provide a significant contribution to health professionals who discharge planning within the framework of a plan. Knowledge Translation: In fact, this study does not provide a new invention to the nursing literature, but offers evidence that supporting previous studies about how important that positively influences of discharge education in group of patients with lung cancer.