Eungil Ko

Symptom burden, palliative care knowledge, and palliative care needs in advanced gynecological cancer patients in Korea

Unmet Palliative Care Needs of Patients Newly Diagnosed With Advanced Gynaecological Cancer in Korea: A Mixed‐Method Study

ABSTRACT Background Newly diagnosed advanced gynaecological cancer patients may have different palliative care needs than those diagnosed earlier. Identifying unmet palliative care needs and the kind of support they want should be prioritised to provide appropriate support for them. Aim The aim of this study was to determine the unmet palliative care needs of Korean patients with newly diagnosed advanced gynaecological cancer and to explore the support they desire from family, medical staff, hospitals and government. Methods A mixed‐method study included quantitative approaches with a cross‐sectional design and inductive qualitative approaches with individual written narratives. Among the original data obtained from 115 patients with advanced gynaecological cancer through an online survey, this study included only quantitative and qualitative data from 75 patients diagnosed with gynaecological cancer within the past year. Regarding quantitative data, the Problems and Needs in Palliative Care Questionnaire was used, and palliative care needs were analysed using the range in percentages of subscales. Through qualitative content analysis, qualitative data were newly analysed regarding the palliative care participants wanted from various support providers. Results The palliative care needs were divided into two aspects: ‘problem’ and ‘need for care’. For both aspects, psychological issues, physical symptoms and financial problems were the three most prevalent domains. Participants wanted their families to provide physical and emotional support. They desired information, emotional support, trustworthy partnerships and professionalism from medical staff; healthcare‐related and emotional palliative care programs from hospitals; and policies for financial and service‐related assistance from the government. Conclusions As newly diagnosed advanced gynaecological cancer patients have various palliative care needs, they need to form a multidisciplinary team of experts to provide complicated and integrated support. We recommended that an early palliative care program be created to meet the patients' palliative care needs shown in our findings in future studies.

Development, preliminary evaluation, and feasibility of a coping strategy and symptom management program for women with gynecological cancer undergoing chemotherapy

Gynecological cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy experience a high symptom burden and reduced quality of life. This study aimed to develop a coping strategy and symptom management program for gynecological cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy and to evaluate its preliminary effects and usefulness. After developing the program with two modules - one focusing on coping strategies and the other on symptom management - the research team implemented it with 19 patients to assess its preliminary effects. Additionally, the program's feasibility was evaluated by both 20 experts and the 19 patients. The instruments used in the study were the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ), Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale (GAD), and Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General (FACT-G). Descriptive analyses and generalized estimation equations were conducted using SPSS 25.0, and participants' open-ended responses were analyzed with ATLAS.ti 8. Following the coping strategy module, participants showed a significant decrease in depression ( The program effectively improved depression, anxiety and quality of life in gynecological cancer patients receiving chemotherapy, and this study demonstrated the feasibility of the program.