The effect of peripheral neuropathy on disability and anxiety in individuals getting chemotherapy

The aim of this study is to determine the relationship of peripheral neuropathy on anxiety and disability in individuals receiving neurotoxic chemotherapy (taxan, platinum group). The population of the descriptive, correlational study consisted of individuals who received at least one of the taxane and platinum-based chemotherapy drugs in the chemotherapy unit of a hospital between March 2021 and July 2021. Power analysis results were used to calculate the study sample number. The study sample consisted of 180 patients aged between 18-65 years who received at least 3 courses of neurotoxic chemotherapy and gave consent to participate in the study. Research data were collected using Descriptive Information Form, Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events version 5.0-Peripheral Neuropathy, Brief Disability Questionnaire, and Beck Anxiety Inventory. In our study, the prevelance of peripheral neuropathy was found to be 73.3% in individuals receiving neurotoxic chemotherapy. Moderate disability was found in 30.8% of patients with grade 0 neuropathy, 51.9% of patients with grade 1 neuropathy, and 17.3% of patients with grade 2 and 3 neuropathy and the disability scores of the patients differed significantly according to the severity of neuropathy (p<0.05). Moderate anxiety was reported in 29.4% of patients with grade 0 neuropathy, 41.2% of patients with grade 1 neuropathy, and 29.4% of patients with grade 2 and 3 neuropathy and the anxiety scores of the patients showed a statistically significant difference according to the severity of neuropathy (p<0.05). It was determined that disability levels differed significantly in individuals with neuropathy according to gender, metastasis status, radiotherapy, previous chemotherapy treatment, and duration of diagnosis. In our study, it was determined that the prevelance of neuropathy was high and the severity of neuropathy was associated with anxiety and disability levels. It is recommended that more studies be conducted on the effects of neuropathy symptoms on patients, and that interventions to cope with the acute and chronic effects of neuropathy should be included in nursing care.