Fatigue, Distress, and Quality of Life after Chemotherapy

Oh, P. J., & Cho, J. R. (2020). Changes in fatigue, psychological distress, and quality of life after chemotherapy in women with breast cancer: A prospective study. Cancer Nursing, 43(1), E54-E60. https://doi.org/10.1097/NCC.0000000000000689.
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Oh, P. J., & Cho, J. R. (2020). Changes in fatigue, psychological distress, and quality of life after chemotherapy in women with breast cancer: A prospective study. Cancer Nursing, 43(1), E54-E60. https://doi.org/10.1097/NCC.0000000000000689. The article “Changes in fatigue, psychological distress, and quality of life after chemotherapy in women with breast cancer: A prospective study” by Pok-Ja Oh and Jung-Ran Cho has a concise and direct title appropriate for the report’s context. Its title is prolific and vivid since it gives the reader an immediate sense of the article’s expectations and how to approach it chronologically. It is well-structured by following the recommended formula of an abstract, introduction, methodology, results, discussion, conclusion, and references.   Abstract Polit and Beck (2018) indicate that research articles first introduce the reader to the synopsis. It should include a study’s critical information, including the study design, aim or purpose, findings, and conclusions. Based on these criteria, this article has a precise abstract. It is also appropriately completed since it uses a bold feature to highlight critical components such as objectives, methods, results, and conclusions (Cho & Cho, 2020). Thus, it incorporates critical components that Polit and Beck (2018) highlighted to familiarize the reader with the entire article. Research Problem, Purpose, and Hypothesis Polit and Beck (2018) indicate that the primary role of introduction is to familiarize the readers with context and research problem. The section incorporates research questions, variables, and the study’s significance. Cho and Cho (2020) satisfy some of these requirements but fails to integrate others in their research paper. For instance, the study’s research problem was the issue of changes in fatigue and psychological stress that occur in women with breast cancer after chemotherapy sessions, which is relevant to current nursing care needs. Although the article does not explicitly state the purpose statement and hypothesis, it outlines the objectives in the abstract and introduction (Oh & Cho, 2020). Although they fail to communicate and word these sections, the authors place them logically in this study. Moreover, it does not classify the independent (psychological distress and fatigue) and dependent (quality of life) variables, but a reader can identify them in the introduction because they are mentioned. Such aspects closely agree with guidelines outlined by Polit and Beck (2018). However, it integrates the research problem in the review. Literature Review Polit and Beck (2018) state that this section contextualizes the research problem by exploring related studies. Although the article does not have a section dedicated to the literature review, the authors incorporate it in the introduction and sufficiently demonstrate the need for this study. The coverage, focus, and materials illustrate that the researchers superficially explored this section because it was not thorough. A unique strength is that it uses a summarized appraisal and comparison of essential studies to highlight the research problem and identify fundamental gaps in the literature. In this context, most of the sources used to support this article’s claims are peer-reviewed primary sources from well-established journals. For instance, Garabeli and Urbanetzs work is a relevant and ideal article for clarifying fatigue in breast cancer patients (Oh & Cho, 2020). The reliance on reports that date as far back as 2001 demonstrates that the authors comprehensively covered the effects of breast cancer chemotherapy from decades ago to establish a foundation for the current work (Oh & Cho, 2020). While describing the IMRAD format of a study material, Polit and Beck (2018) state that references are critical components. In this case, the references also cover most countries from Europe, America, and Asia which means that an international audience can globally recognize the information. However, a review highlights unavoidable flaws. For instance, some articles were over ten years old despite being peer-reviewed, indicating that their findings could be outdated (Oh & Cho, 2020). However, their use was fundamental because it has attracted minimal research and provides pertinent findings. Despite its approach, the review appears concise and well-organized, clearly developing ideas. It uses research-based terminologies to invoke the value of past studies in informing the current one. It assesses the strengths and methods used in past research from an objective perspective to explore these issues using longitudinal studies, such as the one by Trudel-Fitzgerald et al. (2012). Theoretical Framework The article has an identifiable theoretical flamework. It is called Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) (Oh & Cho, 2020). It enables the authors to integrate physical symptoms, general health notions, and functional status to track changes before and after chemotherapy. The theory appropriately links to the research problem and purpose. Moreover, it is consistent with the subject matter. One weakness in this section is that the report does not adequately describe the model despite being appropriate for the research problem due to its capacity to show associations. The model’s primary role was to interpret the study’s findings. As a result, the author discussed the results by tying the implications of chemotherapy to various areas identified by the framework. Methodology Research Design This study uses a prospective longitudinal design because it took up to 6 months.  The selection of participants was purposive sampling since the authors invited them to enrol themselves willingly. Since chemotherapy is applied as the intervention, this method qualifies as an experimental one. It also adheres to standard sample inclusion and exclusion techniques (Polit & Beck (2018). Inclusion factors comprised a minimum age of 18 years and schedule for adjuvant chemotherapy, while exclusion was neoadjuvant one and depression history. Moreover, the population used was sufficient, considering it uses a sample of 36 individuals (Oh & Cho, 2020). They adopted an approach that analyzes the patients before chemotherapy and after the process, which assists in determining the significant changes from the radiation treatment process (Oh & Cho, 2020). Electronic medical records were an excellent supplementary method for analyzing fatigue and psychological distress in t...