Care needs and quality of life patients with multiple myeloma diagnosis

Objective: This study was conducted analytically in order to determine the supportive care needs and quality of life of patients with multiple myeloma diagnosis and to investigate the relationship between supportive care needs and quality of life. Method: The sample of this analytical study consisted of 102 Multiple Myeloma patients followed at the Hematology Outpatient Clinic and Hematology Clinic of Akdeniz University Hospital, who met the inclusion criteria. The data of the study were collected between August 2018 and August 2019. The data were collected using Patient Identification Form, Supportive Care Needs Survey Questionnaire the Short-Form, EORTC QLQ-C30 Quality of Life Scale and EORTC QLQ-MY20 Myelom Module Quality of Life Scale. SAS 9.4 package program was used for statistical analysis of the data. Results: Supportive care needs of multiple myeloma patients were found to be moderate and that patients most needed supportive care in physical-daily life. The duration of diagnosis, functional status, symptom severity, body perception and future perspectives were found to have a significant effect on supportive care needs. The overall quality of life scores of the patients were below the average and the role, social, physical functions were low. Patients reported the most severe symptoms as pain and fatigue. It was found that there was a negatively moderately significant relationship between supportive care needs and quality of life. Conclusion: It was determined that physical-daily life needs of multiple myeloma patients increased and quality of life decreased. For this reason, it is recommended that the patient-specific supportive care needs be identified, care strategies formulated and reflected into care in line with patient needs. Key words: Multiple myeloma, supportive care needs, quality of life, nursing.