Reducing the Negative Impact of Radiation Therapy on Functional Status

The effect of an informational intervention that provided objective descriptions, in concrete terms, of the usual experiences during the various phases of radiation therapy was tested in a random clinical trial. The patients had Stage A, B, or C prostatic cancer. Forty-two control patients received the information routinely provided to all patients in the treatment setting. Forty-two experimental patients received, in addition, four informational messages during the course of radiation therapy. The first message described the experience of treatment planning, the second described the experience of receiving a radiation treatment; the third described side effects that usually occur, their onset, their characteristics, and activities to lessen their impact; and the fourth described the usual experiences during the months following radiation treatments. The experimental group of patients, compared with those in the control group, reported significantly less disruption in usual activities during and following radiation therapy. The amount of emotional disturbance was low and did not differ by study group. The results of this study, with respect to the interventions’ effect on radiation therapy patients’ quality of life, were consistent with prior research in other health care situations. Cancer 61:46-51, 1988. T HAS BEEN REPEATEDLY documented that the experiI ence of receiving radiation therapy can tax patients’ ability to cope.’-5 Although large numbers of patients receive radiation therapy as primary treatment for cancer, research on methods for enhancing patients’ ability to cope during and following therapy is limited. Descriptive studies with radiation therapy patients suggest that these patients would benefit from informational intervention^.^^^ Dodd’ found that radiation therapy patients who used self-care activities reported them to be helpful, suggesting that patients would benefit from instruction in self-care activities. Israel and Mooda found that radiation therapy patients were interested in