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Background: Patient engagement is considered a critical factor in improving healthcare delivery. This study aimed to test the Korean version of the Clinician Support for Patient Activation Measure (CS-PAM) using Rasch analysis, and to explore nurses&rsquo, beliefs about patient self-management. Methods: A cross-sectional, exploratory study design was employed. The staff nurses who were recruited from six hospitals were requested to complete the Korean CS-PAM. Their responses were subsequently subjected to Rasch analysis to validate the Korean CS-PAM. The CS-PAM was paraphrased into Korean using the standardized forward&ndash, backward translation method. Results: The internal consistency of the scale had good Cronbach&rsquo, s alpha value. For all items, the infit and outfit statistics fell well within the acceptable range of 0.5&ndash, 1.5. This measure formed a unidimensional Guttman-like scale that explained 54.7% of the variance. Conclusions: The Korean version of the CS-PAM showed good psychometric properties and appeared to be consistent with the meaning of the original CS-PAM. However, the items have a somewhat different ranking order when compared to the English and Dutch versions. The instrument might be useful for identifying the supportive beliefs and attitudes of nurses or healthcare providers in order to improve patient activation in healthcare.

OBJECTIVE The Cancer-chemotherapy Concerns Rating Scale was developed in Japan for outpatients undergoing chemotherapy, and its validity and reliability have been reported. The purpose of the study was to test the reliability and validity of the Korean version of the Cancer-chemotherapy Concerns Rating Scale. METHODS The questionnaire was filled out by 199 cancer patients, who were currently undergoing outpatient chemotherapy. The data were analyzed using exploratory factor analysis with Promax Rotation to determine the factor construct validity. The reliability of the Cancer-chemotherapy Concerns Rating Scale was investigated by Cronbach's alpha and the Spearman Brown coefficient. RESULTS Four factors were obtained and the overall structure was similar to that of the Japanese version; reorganization of daily life, self-existence, disease progress, and social and economic concerns. Cronbach's alpha for the total scale was 0.91 and the Spearman Brown coefficient was 0.85. CONCLUSIONS We found that the Korean version of the Cancer-chemotherapy Concerns Rating Scale could be clinically useful. It could provide health-care providers with information useful to understand the psychological state of patients undergoing outpatient chemotherapy.

Purpose: This study is aimed at identifying the effects of telephone counseling as nursing support on distress, anxiety, depression, and adverse events in cancer patients undergoing their first chemotherapy. Methods: This was a randomized controlled trial (pretest-posttest design). A total of 70 pat...

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to describe the level of satisfaction with the role of Korean oncology advanced practice nurses (KOAPNs) among cancer patients, physicians, and nurses. Methods: This study was conducted with 176 patients who had experienced KOPANs’ care more than three times, as well as 82 physicians and 190 nurses who have worked with KOAPNs at four hospitals in Korea. Results: The results indicate that 1) Overall satisfaction in the patient group was high (3.61) and they were most satisfied with the ‘attentiveness’ domain; 2) Overall satisfaction in the physician group was also high (3.61), however, that in the nurse group was relatively low (3.28); ‘coordination & cooperation’ showed the highest score for satisfaction in both groups, while ‘research’ domain showed the lowest score; 3) Cancer type in patients, working department in physicians or nurses, and duration working with KOAPNs in nurses showed significant association with satisfaction; and 4) The ratio of KOAPNs-to-patient, time since introduction of the KOAPNs policy, and incentive system were institutional factors showing significant association with it. Conclusion: These findings suggest the necessity for identification and standardization of the roles of KOAPNs, as well as promotion of awareness of KOAPNs’ care.

Purpose: This study was done to clarify the effects of foot reflexology on peripheral neuropathy, symptom distress, anxiety and depression in cancer patients treated with oxaliplatin. Methods: A quasi-experimental design was employed. Changes in the variables were evaluated to test the effects of foot reflexology. Participants were cancer patients treated with oxaliplatin (experimental group 14 and control group 17). Peripheral neuropathy, symptom distress, anxiety and depression were measured before and after reflexology. Data were collected from October, 2010 to April, 2011. χ²-test, Fisher’s exact test, t-test, Wilcoxon signed rank test and the Mann-Whitney U test were used to analyze the data. Results: The experimental group who received foot reflexology experienced less eripheral neuropathy and symptom distress than the control group. There was no difference in anxiety and depression between the experimental and control group. Conclusion: The foot reflexology program adopted in this study was found to be an effective method to reduce peripheral neuropathy and symptom distress. We recommend foot reflexology for patients with chemotherapy induced peripheral neuropathy.