The effect of endobronchial airway stent use on dyspnea and activities of daily living in patients with lung cancer

This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted to evaluate the effect of airway stenting on dyspnea and activities of daily living in patients receiving endobronchial therapy with lung cancer. The study was carried out with the participation of 44 patients having lung cancer in Yedikule Chest Diseases And Thoracic Surgery Training And Reseaerch Hospital after after the approval of the ethics committee. Research data were collected by questionnaire method. Data; Data were collected using the Collection Form, Cancer Dyspnea Scale, and Katz Activities of Daily Living Index. The average age of the participants was 57.7 years and the 59.1% of them were male. The duration of smoking of the patients was on an average determined as 34.88 years. The 55% of the diagnosed patients were the ones with non-small cell lung cancer and 52.3% of them were receiving non-endobronchial treatment. And in 61.5%, metastases were detected. All patients had dyspnea. The dyspnea scale total scores of patients after airway stenting showed a significant decrease when compared to the pre-procedure (33.7 before, 3.6 at the 1st hour, 8.2 at the 1st week, 7.2 at the 1st month, respectively) (p p< 0.05). The activity scale total scores of the patients after airway stenting showed a significant increase when compared to the pre-procedure. (2.9 before, 4.2 at 1st week, 4.5 at 1st month, respectively) (p<0.05) It was determined that airway stent decreased the level of dyspnea and increased independence in physical activities for patients with lung cancer. Keywords: Lung cancer, dyspnea, endobronchial airway stent, activities of daily living