국내 성인 말기암 환자의 삶의 질에 대한 통합적 고찰

초록

Purpose: Despite the importance of promoting quality of life (QOL) among patients with terminal cancer, a comprehensive understanding of QOL among this population is lacking in South Korea. Thus, the purpose of the integrative review was to identify patterns in studies about patient-reported QOL among Korean adult patients with a diagnosis of terminal cancer. Methods: The integrative review method described by Whittemore and Knaf was used in this stuy. Twenty-five articles were selected for analysis. Results: Most articles addressed factors that influenced QOL or validated an assessment instrument to measure QOL in patients with terminal cancer. Only one qualitative research article which described patients’ experiences of living with terminal cancer. Six other articles examined the effects of interventions on patients’ QOL but these did not provide detailed information about interventions. These articles seldom used robust designs and methods to test the interventions. Conclusion: Findings from the review suggest conducting studies with qualitative methodologies to gain an in-depth understanding of QOL from patients’ perspectives. Additional studies with robust designs and methods are also necessary to develop and test theory-based, empirically-derived interventions that help maintain or promote QOL in patients with terminal cancer.

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