The descriptive characteristics of the patients are given in Table 1. The majority of the sample had completed primary school (60.7%) and did not work (73.8%); however, half of the patients reported having a mid-level income. The great majority of participants were married (85.7%) and had children (89.3%). 47.6% of the patients had stage-2 BC, 77.4% had undergone breast surgery and chemotherapy treatments before, and 26.2% had come from other cities to receive their scheduled treatment. The big majority of patients (94%) lived with their family, and nearly half (45.2%) of those had at least one additional chronic disease. The mean age of patients was 49.57±8.14 years. The mean value of the body mass index was 29.49±5.50, and the average number of children was 2.14±1.04. The mean time of diagnosis was 5.51±1.66 months; the time since diagnosis was 3–6 months in 81% of the patients.
Changes in symptom frequency among the patients were prospectively evaluated at five different time points (T₁, T₂, T₃, T₄, and T₅) during the 12-week paclitaxel regimen (Table 2). When the symptoms of nausea and vomiting (after treatment), constipation, weight loss or weight gain, changes in appetite, problems with the eyes, feelings of extraordinary fatigue, headaches, anxiety or distress, pessimism and sadness, changes in sexual life, and changes in the menstrual cycle were compared with symptom statuses of the baseline assessment (T₁), a significant decrease was observed in the aforementioned symptoms in all the subsequent measurements (T₂, T₃, T₄ and T₅) (p<0.05). Besides, the frequency of feeling needling, numbness, and pain in the hands and feet increased in the subsequent assessments (T₂, T₃, T₄ and T₅) compared to the baseline assessment (T₁) (p<0.05). In addition, according to the baseline assessment (T1) and the assessment at the end of the first cycle (T2), the increase in the frequency of sleep disturbances in the fifth assessment (T5) cycle remained statistically significant (p<0.05). Finally, the frequency of skin and nail changes gradually increased from T2 to T5 (p<0.05). However, the differences between the measurements (T1, T₂, T₃, T₄, T₅) were not statistically significant in terms of nausea and vomiting (before treatment), diarrhea, dyspnea, signs of infection, bleeding or bruising, hair loss, weakness, and problems with the mouth and throat (p>0.05).
Regarding the changes in the mean BPS scores of the patients during the paclitaxel regimen, the corresponding scores were 137.75±13.72 at T₁, 130.53±14.62 at T₂, 132.33±12.01 at T3, 129.59±12.62 at T4, and 124.07±10.43 at T₅ (Table 3). When comparing the changes in the mean scores of the BPS, the corresponding scores decreased in T₂ compared to T₁, increased in T₃ compared to T₂, and decreased again in T₄ compared to T₃, and in T₅ compared to T₄. Among these changes, the reductions between T₁–T₂, T₃–T₄, and T₄–T₅ were found to be statistically significant (p<0.05). In addition, in paired comparisons, the reductions between T₁–T₄, T₁–T₅, T₂–T₅, and T₃–T₅ measurements were statistically significant (p<0.05).
During the paclitaxel regimen in this study, the mean scores of the HAD-A sub-dimension were 6.60±4.74 at T₁, 5.63±3.86 at T₂, 4.47±3.33 at T3, 4.17±3.01 at T₄, and 4.29±3.15 at T₅. When Table 4 is examined, it can be seen that the mean scores of the HAD-A decreased in T₂ compared to T₁ and T₃ and in T₂ and T₄ compared to T₃; the mean scores increased in T₅ compared to T4. The reductions between T₁–T₂ and T₃-T₂ assessments were statistically significant (p<0.05). Also, the reductions between the T₁–T₃, T₁–T₄, T₂–T₄, and T₂–T₅ measurements were statistically significant based on the paired comparison tests (p<0.05).
The changes in the mean scores of the HAD-D sub-dimension based on the paclitaxel cures are presented in Table 4. Accordingly, it was found to be 6.00±4.16 at T₁, 5.64±3.37 at T2, 6.13±3.65 at T₃, 6.90±3.23 at T₄, and 7.44±2.85 at T₅. When Table 4 is examined, it can be seen that the mean depression scores decreased in T₂ compared to T₁, increased in T₃ compared to T₂ and T₄, and increased again in T3 and T5 compared to T₄. Among these changes, the reductions between T₁–T₂ and T₂–T₃ were found to be statistically significant (p<0.05). In addition, the differences between the T₁–T₃, T₁–T₄, T₂–T₄, and T₂–T₅ measurements were statistically significant based on paired comparisons (p<0.05).