Hearing and Communication with Elderly Cancer Outpatients Undergoing Chemotherapy

• Published in: Journal of Japanese Society of Cancer Nursing Vol. 38; p. 38_128_ikeda
• Main Authors: Arao, Harue, Tamura, Saori, Ikeda, Kanako
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Japanese
• Published: Japanese Society of Cancer Nursing 26.09.2024; 一般社団法人 日本がん看護学会
• Subjects: cancer; chemotherapy; communication; elderly; hearing; がん; コミュニケーション; 聴覚; 薬物療法; 高齢
• ISSN: 0914-6423; 2189-7565
• DOI: 10.18906/jjscn.38_128_ikeda

Objectives: To elucidate the state of communication associated with hearing in elderly cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy and to obtain suggestions for communication taking into consideration the state of hearing.Methods: This is a quantitative, descriptive study. We used an anonymous self-administered questionnaire and surveyed the medical records of elderly patients aged ≥65 years who were receiving chemotherapy on an outpatient basis for their state of hearing and communication with medical staff. After calculating the descriptive statistics of all items, difficulty hearing was classified into two groups, and communication was examined using the Mann-Whitney U test (a two-tailed p value of 0.05 was considered significant).Results: In the subject sample of 127 patients, the mean age was 74.6 ± 5.2 years, there were 76 men (59.8%), and the most common disease was lung cancer in 41 patients (32.3%). Sixty-eight patients (53.5%) experienced difficulty hearing when communicating with medical staff, 23 patients (33.8%) complained about this to medical staff and 25 patients (36.8%) had difficulty hearing which affected their treatment and care. Furthermore, 71 patients (55.9%) were satisfied with their communication with medical staff, and the level of satisfaction was significantly lower for the group with hearing difficulties than the group without hearing difficulties (p < 0.05).Discussion: It is important to evaluate the state of hearing of elderly patients before treatment initiation, as more than half of the patients experienced hearing difficulties in communicating with medical staff. Furthermore, the low level of satisfaction in communicating with medical staff indicates the need to improve communication methods and environment.