Determination of Radiotherapy-Related Acute Side Effects; A Starting Point for the Possible Implementation of a Clinical Pharmacy Services in the Radiological Unit in Turkey

Abstract

Background: Although it is considered as important part in cancer therapy, radiotherapy is associated with many acute side effects. The clinical pharmacist in clinical oncology practice provides a well-defined role in the assessment and monitoring of side effects during treatment. The aim of this study was to explore Radiotherapy-Related Acute Side Effects (RRASEs) in a real-life setting at the radiology unit and whether there is a possibility for providing radiology unit-based clinical pharmacy supportive services in collaboration with other healthcare professionals for cancer patients admitted for radiotherapy application.Methods: A retrospective descriptive study was carried out on cancer patients admitted for radiotherapy application at the radiology unit. During the study, detection of RRASEs incidence and their outlined treatments were assessed.Results: RRASEs observed was 494 with a mean number of 6.175±2.88 per patient. A high incidence of RRASEs was encountered among male patients 61.3%. Nausea and vomiting were the most common acute side effects encountered 82.5% followed by loss of appetite 73.8%. There was a significant correlation between the incidence of RRASEs and a number of factors that were related to age greater than 60 years (P=0.0003), cigarette smoking (P=0.0084), comorbidities (P=0.0328), carcinoma type and stage (P=0.0098) and (P=0.0001) respectively.Conclusion: Radiotherapy application is associated with the incidence of different acute side effects that require proper treatment and follow-up. This could be further achieved through the introduction of the clinical pharmacist services in collaboration with other healthcare professionals for better patient-related health outcomes.

Keywords: Acute Side Effects; Cancer; Clinical Pharmacy Services; Radiology Unit; Turkey