The effect of pharmaceutical care on quality of life and severity of adverse events from chemotherapy in chemotherapy patients at PhraChomKlao Hospital, Phetchaburi
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
Oncology pharmacists play a critical role in providing pharmaceutical care to assess, prevent, and mitigate adverse drug reactions (ADRs), thereby enhancing the safety and quality of life (QoL) of cancer patients. Methods: This pre-experimental, one-group pretest-posttest study evaluated quality of life (QoL) and ADR severity among chemotherapy patients receiving pharmaceutical care at Phrachomklao Hospital, Phetchaburi Province. A total of 90 patients enrolled in the “Pharmaceutical Care Program for Chemotherapy Patients” between January 1 and October 31, 2024. QoL was assessed using the standard EQ-5D-5L questionnaire, which measures health utility scores and self-reported health status via the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) before and after chemotherapy cycles and the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) version 5 to grade ADR severity. Results: No significant differences in QoL were observed between pre- and post-chemotherapy regarding mobility, self-care, and usual activities. Post-chemotherapy, pain/discomfort increased, whereas anxiety/depression decreased. While utility values remained stable, VAS scores demonstrated a significant upward (p=0.009) trend (77.01+13.11, 79.70+13.87,79.78+12.89 and 81.04+16.41, respectively), with significant improvements from baseline to cycle 1–3, and cycle 3 scores were significantly higher than cycle 2 (p < 0.05). Common mild ADRs included alopecia (74.5%), fatigue (64.8%), and peripheral neuropathy (37.8%). Severe ADRs were limited to seven cases: myalgia (5) and nausea/vomiting (2). Conclusion: Pharmaceutical care significantly enhances QoL and reduces ADR severity. Continuous pharmaceutical care is recommended throughout treatment to ensure sustainable safety and efficacy in oncological care.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
In the case that some parts are used by others The author must Confirm that obtaining permission to use some of the original authors. And must attach evidence That the permission has been included
References
Bray F, Laversanne M, Sung H, Ferlay J, et al. Global cancer statistics 2022: GLOBOCAN estimates of incidence and mortality worldwide for 36 cancers in 185 countries. CA Cancer J Clin. 2024; 74(3): 229-63. doi:10.3322/caac.21834.
Colombo L, Aguiar PM, Lima TM, Storpirtis S. The effects of pharmacist interventions on adult outpatients with cancer: a systematic review. J Clin Pharm Ther. 2017; 42(6): 673-82. doi:10.1111/jcpt.12562.
Fujii H, Ueda Y, Hirose C, Ohata K, Sekiya K, Kitahora M, et al. Pharmaceutical intervention for adverse events improves quality of life in patients with cancer undergoing outpatient chemotherapy. J Pharm Health Care Sci. 2022; 8(1): 8. doi:10.1186/s40780-022-00239-w.
Harris CS, Kober KM, Conley YP, Dhruva AA, Hammer MJ, Miaskowski CA. Symptom clusters in patients receiving chemotherapy: a systematic review. BMJ Support Palliat Care. 2022; 12(1): 10-21. doi:10.1136/bmjspcare-2021-003325.
Hirose C, Fujii H, Iihara H, Ishihara M, Nawa-Nishigaki M, Kato-Hayashi H, et al. Real-world data of the association between quality of life using the EuroQoL 5 Dimension 5 Level utility value and adverse events for outpatient cancer chemotherapy. Support Care Cancer. 2020; 28(12): 5943-52. doi:10.1007/s00520-020-05443-8.
Maleki S, Alexander M, Fua T, Liu C, Rischin D, Lingaratnam S. A systematic review of the impact of outpatient clinical pharmacy services on medication-related outcomes in patients receiving anticancer therapies. J Oncol Pharm Pract. 2018; 24(7): 1696-709. doi:10.1177/1078155218783814.
Malik YG, Benth JŠ, Hamre HM, Faerden AE, Ignjatovic D, Schultz JK. Chemotherapy reduces long-term quality of life in recurrence-free colon cancer survivors (LaTE study)-a nationwide inverse probability of treatment-weighted registry-based cohort study and survey. Colorectal Dis. 2024; 26(1): 22-33. doi:10.1111/codi.16807.
National Cancer Institute, Department of Medical Services, Ministry of Public Health. Hospital-based cancer registry annual report 2022. Bangkok: Pornsup Printing; 2023.
Periasamy U, Mohd Sidik S, Rampal L, et al. Effect of chemotherapy counseling by pharmacists on quality of life and psychological outcomes of oncology patients in Malaysia: a randomized control trial. Health Qual Life Outcomes. 2017; 15(1): 104. doi:10.1186/s12955-017-0680-2.
Poudel B, Sankhi S, Pathak N, et al. Impact of pharmacist-led chemotherapy counseling on health-related quality of life and psychological outcomes of oncology patients in cancer hospital: a single center, open-label, randomized controlled trial. Explor Res Clin Soc Pharm. 2025; 20: 100649. doi:10.1016/j.rcsop.2025.100649.
Ramasubbu SK, Pasricha R, Nath UK, Das B. Frequency, nature, severity and preventability of adverse drug reactions arising from cancer chemotherapy in a teaching hospital. J Family Med Prim Care. 2020; 9(2): 650-5. doi:10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_352_20.
Soipitak P, Sakthong P. Effects of pharmaceutical care on pharmacotherapy-related quality of life in cancer patients receiving chemotherapy: a randomized controlled trial. Thai J Pharm Pract. 2022; 14(2): 366-78.
Sprave T, Gkika E, Verma V, Grosu AL, Stoian R. Patient reported outcomes based on EQ-5D-5L questionnaires in head and neck cancer patients: a real-world study. BMC Cancer. 2022; 22(1): 1236. doi:10.1186/s12885-022-10346-4.
Subongkot S, Srisawat S, Johns NP, Sookprasert A. Outcome of chemotherapy counseling in oncology patients by pharmacist. Isan J Pharm Sci. 2009; 5(1): 34-45.
Tachi T, Teramachi H, Tanaka K, Asano S, Osawa T, Kawashima A, et al. The impact of outpatient chemotherapy-related adverse events on the quality of life of breast cancer patients. PLoS One. 2015; 10(4): e0124169. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0124169.
Tanaka K, Hori A, Tachi T, Osawa T, Nagaya K, Makino T, et al. Impact of pharmacist counseling on reducing instances of adverse events that can affect the quality of life of chemotherapy outpatients with breast cancer. J Pharm Health Care Sci. 2018; 4: 9. doi:10.1186/s40780-018-0105-3.
