• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.9
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• pp.4789-4792
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• 2012

Aims: The purpose of this study was to investigate complementary and alternative medicine use among breast cancer survivors in Taiwan. Materials and Methods: This study employed a descriptive research design approach to detail the CAM use among the target population. Convenience sampling was used along with a structured questionnaire. Results: A total of 230 breast cancer survivors completed the use CAM scale. Prayer, reading books, taking antioxidants, eating various grains, and maintaining a vegetarian diet proved to be the five most frequently used CAM practices among patients in our study. More than 50.0% of the participants reported praying occasionally. More than 40.0% of participants read books occasionally, and 38.7% stated that they occasionally take antioxidants. Conclusions: These results provide more insight into CAM use for nurses who care for breast cancer patients.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.8
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• pp.4081-4086
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• 2012

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use is prevalent among individuals with cancer, especially breast cancer survivors. This study was conducted among 394 breast cancer survivors in selected regions of Peninsular Malaysia to identify the pattern and factors associated with CAM use. About 51% of the respondents reported CAM use as complementary treatment. Vitamins (47.2%), spiritual activities (33.2%) and other dietary supplements (30.7%) were the most commonly used CAM therapies. Common reasons for CAM use were to increase the body's ability to perform daily activities (70.9%), enhance immune function (58.3%) and improve emotional well-being (31.7%). Users obtained CAM information mainly from friends and family members (62.5%), physicians (25.0%) and mass media (13.9%). Ethnicity and years of education were significantly associated with CAM use. Although no adverse effects of CAM were reported, breast cancer survivors should discuss their CAM use with health professionals to prevent potential adverse effects of these therapies.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.16 no.9
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• pp.628-637
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• 2016

The purpose of this study was to explore factors influencing quality of life among cancer survivors in order to identify strategies for cancer survivors to go back to normal life and carry on stable and high quality life. This study used Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey(2010-2014), conducted by Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(KCDC). The sample of this study was 610 cancer survivors and their average time since diagnosis was about 11 years. The most powerful influencing factors for quality of life among cancer survivors were activity limitation(${\beta}$=.30, p<.001), followed by age(${\beta}$=-.20, p<.001), subjective health status(${\beta}$ =-.19, p<.001), and economic status(${\beta}$=.12, p=.004). According to the result, limitation on daily activities or social activities due to physical or mental debilitation was a strong factor that lowers quality of life among cancer survivors. Hence, there is a need for manpower and infrastructure that facilitates, supports, and manage daily activities of cancer survivors.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.2551-2555
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• 2013

Background: Physical activity is a component of lifestyle activity and one that has been increasingly seen as 'the medicine' to cure chronic diseases, including certain types of cancer. Physical activity has potent impact on mortality but only if it is well incorporated as lifestyle activity may it allow a better outcome of the quality of life of cancer survivors. This paper presents a review on the evidence of physical activity being actively promoted as lifestyle activity amongst cancer survivors, for the last five years. Materials and Methods: Electronic databases were systematically searched for randomized controlled trials incorporated as lifestyle activity through MEDLINE with the associated terms "physical activity or exercise", "quality of life" and "cancer survivor or people with cancer", 'lifestyle' and 'randomised controlled trial'. The period of search was confined to publication within January 2008 till December 2012 and further limits were to full text, peer reviewed, abstract available and English language. Results: Based on inclusion criteria, 45 articles were retrieved. Of these, 41 were excluded after examining the full paper. Four final articles on randomized controlled trials were studied to determine the effectiveness of PA to improve the quality of life in post treatment cancer survivors and positive associations were found. Conclusions: Physical activity is related to better quality of life of cancer survivors. Only one paper had characteristics of lifestyle incorporation for a lifestyle redesign, but none overtly or actively promoting exercise interventions as an essential lifestyle activity. With increasing survivorship, the benefits of physical activity must be aggressively and overtly promoted to optimize its positive impact.

• Asian Oncology Nursing
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.93-104
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• 2008

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to describe and understand the meaning of cancer survivors' life experience after being discharged from the primary cancer treatment. Methods: Data were collected through a tape-recorded in-depth interview from six participants living in Gyeonggi province from September 2007 to January 2008. The analysis of the data was made through the phenomenological analytic method suggested by Colaizzi. Results: Thirteen themes regarding the survivors' life experience were found. From these thirteen themes, six major theme were emerged. The six major theme included 'keeping his/her mind comfortable', 'going ahead with new hope', 'accepting for his/her existing burden', 'maintaining a good health for a new life', 'improving the strength and relationship among the family member', and 'being faithful to his/her religion'. Conclusions: The results of this study would help oncology nurses to understand the cancer survivors' life and to develop a quality of life improvement program for physical, psychosocial, and spiritual aspects of nursing.

• Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.103-113
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• 2018

Purpose: This study was performed to assess problems associated with sleep (short and long sleep duration) and to identify risky subgroups with sleep problems among adult cancer survivors. The study is based on the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES VI and VII) from 2013 to 2016. Methods: The sociodemographic and clinical data of 504 Korean cancer survivors aged 20-64 years was extracted from the KNHANES VI and VII database. Descriptive statistics for complex samples was used, and decision-tree analyses were performed using the SPSS WIN 24.0 program. Results: The mean age for survivors was approximately 51 years. The mean sleep duration was 6.97 hours; 36.2% of participants had short (< 7 hours) and 9.9% had long (> 8 hours) sleep duration. From the decision-trees analyses, the characteristics of the adult cancer survivors related to sleep problems were presented with six different pathways. Sleep problems were analyzed according to the survivors' sociodemographic information (age, education, living status, and occupation), clinical characteristics (body mass index, hypercholesterolemia, and anemia) and health-related quality of life (HRQoL). The HRQoL (${\leq}0.5$ or > 0.5 cutoff point) was a significant predictor of the participants' sleep problems because all six pathways were started from this predictor in the model. Conclusion: Health care professionals could use the decision-tree model for screening adult cancer survivors with sleep problems in clinical or community settings. Nursing interventions considering these specific individual characteristics and HRQoL level should be developed to have adequate sleep duration for Korean adult cancer survivors.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.32-40
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• 2023

Background: Equating is a statistical procedure used to create a common measurement scale across two instruments. Item-level information should be taken into consideration so that scores can communicate interchangeably across the instruments. Objects: To investigate a common measurement scale across two health-related quality of life questionnaires (HRQOL) applied to various cancer survivors who underwent palliative care in healthcare institutions. Methods: A total of 139 cancer survivors who underwent palliative care were recruited from two rehabilitation hospitals and an oriental medicine hospital. Participants consisted of various cancer survivors who presented to the sites for palliative care. They were asked to fill out Korean versions of the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL-BREF) and EuroQOL-5 dimension (EQ-5D) questionnaires following the palliative care. For the item level comparison, the Rasch rating scale model was used to investigate how participants regarded individual test items of two instruments in relation to item difficulty calibrations. Results: All items except the three items fit the Rasch model. One item (anxiety/depression) of the EQ-5D and two items (dependence on medical aids and negative feelings) of the WHOQOL-BREF are misfit. The WHOQOL-BREF targets the survivors well, while the EQ-5D is able to target the survivors with lower HRQOL levels with some ceiling effects. By inspecting the item difficulty calibrations of the two instruments, five items of the WHOQOL-BREF are selected as common items in relation to the EQ-5D. These five items are considered compatible with each other. Differential item functioning (DIF) analysis reveals that the healthcare item of the WHOQOL-BREF vs the self-care item of the EQ-5D exhibits significant DIF. Conclusion: Findings suggest that one paired item should be taken into consideration when equating the WHOQOL-BREF and the EQ-5D applied to cancer survivors who underwent palliative care.

• Journal of muscle and joint health
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.5-15
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• 2012

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of a combined exercise program on the level of physical fitness and fatigue for cancer survivors. Methods: The subjects were all of 61 persons consisted of prostate cancer(n=22), breast cancer (n=20), and stomach cancer(n=19) survivors. The exercise program was composed of a wall exercise, a chair exercise, a towel exercise and a bottle exercise which lasted 50-60 minutes each, two times a week for 12 weeks. The outcome measures were the fat mass, the muscle mass, the grip strength, the sit and reach, the 6 minutes walk, & fatigue. Results: At the completion of the 12-week combined exercise program, there were statistically significant differences in the grip strength, the sit & reach, the 6 minutes walk, & fatigue for the prostate, breast, and stomach cancer survivors. But no significant differences were found in the muscle mass between the pretest and posttest. Conclusion: As the 12-week combined exercise program was proved to be an effective intervention for improving muscle strength, flexibility, cardiopulmonary fitness & fatigue, it is thought that the program can be utilized as a rehabilitation program for cancer survivors.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.48 no.5
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• pp.545-553
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• 2018

Purpose: The increasing survival rate of colorectal cancer demands various nursing interventions and continuous care for patients to adapt to their psychosocial daily lives. The purpose of this study was to identify factors associated with psychosocial adjustment in colorectal cancer survivors. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study with face-to-face interviews was conducted of 156 colorectal cancer survivors after surgery visiting an outpatient cancer clinic at a tertiary hospital in S city, Korea. Posttraumatic growth, health-promoting behavior, length of treatment, difficulty in activities of daily living, and having a stoma were entered into the linear regression model. Results: The strongest factor influencing the level of psychosocial adjustment was health-promoting behavior (${\beta}=.33$, p<.001), followed by difficulty in activities of daily living (${\beta}=-.24$, p=.001), posttraumatic growth (${\beta}=.20$, p=.004), and having a stoma (${\beta}=-.19$, p=.004). Conclusion: Nursing interventions for psychosocial adjustment in colorectal cancer survivors need to include the contents for posttraumatic growth, as well as health-promoting behavior, and activities of daily living.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.7
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• pp.3305-3310
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• 2014

Background: A cancer survivor is defined as anyone who has been diagnosed with cancer, from the time of diagnosis through the rest of their life. The purpose of this study was to examine whether physical functions, health-related outcomes, nutritional status and blood markers in community-dwelling cancer survivors aged 75 years and older are different from those who do not have cancer Materials and Methods: Two hundred seventy-five participants were asked by physicians, nurses, and physical therapists, questions regarding cancer history in a face-to-face interview. Data were collected for demographic information, physical functions, such as handgrip strength, knee extension power, abdominal muscle strength, static standing balance, walking speed and the timed-up-and-go test, health-related outcomes, nutritional status, and blood markers. The measured parameters of survivor diagnosed with cancer were compared with those without a history of cancer. Results: Thirty-seven older adults were previously diagnosed with cancer. Female cancer survivors had lower knee extension power (p<0.05), abdominal muscle strength (p<0.05), walking speed (p<0.05), timed-up-and-go test score (p<0.05), and time to spend on walking per day (p<0.05) than older women without a history of cancer. In men, none of the measured parameters were significantly different between cancer survivors and older men with no history of cancer. Conclusions: The present study shows that partial physical function of women cancer survivors aged 75 years and older differs from that in women with no history of cancer.