The relationship between early symptoms, symptom management and anxiety level in patients requesting radioactive iodine treatment

The number of people diagnosed with cancer is increasing rapidly in today's world, both in developed and developing countries. Thyroid cancer is also a significant majority among this increasing number of people. Radioactive iodine therapy is given to the patient who has undergone thyroidectomy with surgical treatment to receive complementary treatment. Since this planned study deals with symptom severity, coping level and anxiety levels in patients receiving radioactive iodine 131 treatment, it is aimed to fill an important deficiency in the literature. No sampling was made in the study, and it was performed between 17.01.2022 and 31.05.2022, out of 60 patients who applied to the Yüzüncü Yıl University Dursun Odabaş Medical Center Nuclear Medicine Unit with the full count method. All patients who applied to the study population between these dates and met the inclusion criteria were included in the study. In the study, 'patient identification form', 'symptoms form after I-131 treatment', 'symptom coping status in the first 48 hours after I-131 application' and 'state and trait anxiety scale' were used. Considering that the patients had a high dose of radioactive iodine, an internal telephone interview was made. Data analysis was done with SPSS 21.0 program. In the statistical analysis of the data of the study: evaluation of the socio-demographic characteristics of the patient, frequency and percentage, mean and standard deviation, median, minimum and maximum evaluation were used. Arithmetic mean, standard deviation, median, minimum and maximum evaluation, statistical analyzes to evaluate normality, correlation tests to evaluate the relationship between the scores of the scales, and reliability tests (Cronbach's Alpha Coefficient) were used to evaluate the scale scores. Analysis of variance tests in the comparison of the scale according to socio-demographic characteristics; Normal distribution, pairwise comparison, independent t test, triple comparison One Way ANOVA test and post hoc tests, non-normal distribution pairwise comparison, Mann Whitney U test, triple comparison, Kruskal Wallis test, regression analysis tests were used to determine the influencing factors. Significance level of difference and relationships was accepted as p<0.05. Of the patients participating in the study, 76.7% were female, 23.3% were male, 68.3% were housewives, 31.7% worked in different occupational groups, 78.3% were in Van, It was determined that 21.7 of them resided outside the province of Van. According to the findings of the study, it was observed that dry mouth increased in the second 24 hours, and Diffuse Painless Edema in the Subcutaneous Tissues of the Neck slightly increased in the second 24 hours. Vomiting, sleep disturbance, alopecia-hair loss, pain and numbness in the neck are seen in a high percentage of patients as absent or very little. It was observed that there was a significant increase in general body pain, nausea, neck pain, headache, loss of appetite, dyspnea, taste disorder and burnout syndromes in the second 24 hours. It was observed that most of the patients who participated in the study were able to cope with the symptoms of dry mouth, widespread painless edema in the subcutaneous tissues of the neck, vomiting, sleep disturbance, hair loss-alopecia, nose bleeding, burnout, numbness, loss of appetite and taste disturbance. Although those who coped with the symptom of dyspnea were high, the difference between those who coped and those who partially coped was low. It was observed that the symptoms of general body pain and pain in the neck could also be partially managed in most of the patients. It was determined that the majority of the patients could not cope with the symptoms of nausea and headache. It was observed that dry mouth, taste disorder and diffuse painless edema in the subcutaneous tissues of the neck did not have any effect on anxiety according to the state and trait anxiety scales. According to the state anxiety scale, in the symptoms of sleep disturbance, anorexia, shortness of breath and burnout, the anxiety levels of the patients who could not cope with these symptoms were found to be high. It was determined that the patient group in which these symptoms developed was not anxious according to the trait anxiety scale. It was observed that the patient groups who could not cope with the symptoms of general body pain, nausea, numbness, headache and neck pain were more anxious on the state and trait anxiety scales. Keywords : Radioactive Iodine, Symptom Management, Anxiety.