Effects of Psychiatric Issues and Early Enteral Nutrition Therapy on Anxiety and Quality-of-Life of Patients with Gastric Cancer

Abstract

Objectives: In this study, we assessed the effects of psychiatric issues and early enteral nutrition therapy on anxiety and quality-of-life of patients with gastric cancer. Methods: We enrolled 60 patients with gastric cancer treated from January 2018 to November 2020 and divided them into 2 groups using a random number table (N=30 per group). All patients received early enteral nutrition therapy. The control group was given routine nursing; treatment of persons in the observation group was supplemented with additional psychiatric nursing. We then compared anxiety-depression scores, treatment compliance, nutritional status indices, and quality-of-life score. Results: The Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) score and the Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS) score significantly declined in both groups after nursing compared with those before nursing (p<.05). After nursing, the SAS score and SDS score were lower in the observation group versus the control group (p<.05). The total rate of treatment compliance in the observation group (93.33%) was higher than that in the control group (73.33%) (p<.05). After nursing, the levels of hemoglobin, albumin, prealbumin, and transferrin were significantly higher in both groups than before nursing (p<.05), but higher in the observation group (p<.05). After nursing, the quality-of-life score was significantly higher in both groups than before nursing (p<.05), but higher in the observation group (p<.05). Conclusion: During enteral nutrition therapy for patients with gastric cancer, psychiatric treatment can effectively alleviate patient anxiety and depression, enhance treatment compliance, improve nutritional status, and enhance quality-of-life.