Correlational Study of Emotional Stress, Pain, and the Presence of Inpatient Companions for Cancer Inpatients during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Ya-Huei Chen, Shu-Ling Chen, Chia-Hui Chang, Pi-O Wu, Hsiu-Hui Yu, Sou-Jen Shih and Mei-Yu Chang
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Ya-Huei Chen: Department of Nursing, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung 40705, Taiwan
Shu-Ling Chen: Department of Nursing, Hungkuang University, Taichung 433304, Taiwan
Chia-Hui Chang: Department of Nursing, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung 40705, Taiwan
Pi-O Wu: Department of Nursing, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung 40705, Taiwan
Hsiu-Hui Yu: Department of Nursing, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung 40705, Taiwan
Sou-Jen Shih: Department of Nursing, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung 40705, Taiwan
Mei-Yu Chang: Department of Nursing, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung 40705, Taiwan

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 12, 1-9

Abstract: The outbreak of COVID-19 poses an immense global threat. Visitors to hospitalized patients during a pandemic might themselves be carriers, and so hospitals strictly control patients and inpatient companions. However, it is not easy for cancer patients to adjust the times of their medical treatment or to suspend treatment, and the impact of the pandemic on cancer inpatients and inpatient companions is relatively high. The objectives for this investigation are to study the correlations among emotional stress, pain, and the presence of inpatient companions in cancer patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study was a retrospective descriptive study. The participants were cancer inpatients and inpatient companions in a medical center in Taiwan. The data for this study were extracted from cross-platform structured and normalized electronic medical record databases. Microsoft Excel 2016 and SPSS version 22.0 were used for analysis of the data. In all, 75.15% of the cancer inpatients were accompanied by family, and the number of hospitalization days were 7.87 ± 10.77 days, decreasing year by year, with statistical significance of p < 0.001. The daily nursing hours were 12.94 ± 10.76, and the nursing hours decreased year by year, p < 0.001. There was no significant difference in gender among those who accompanied the patients, but there were statistical differences in the length of hospitalization, nursing hours, and pain scores between those with and without inpatient companions, with p < 0.001. The inpatient companions were mostly family members (78%). The findings of this study on cancer patient care and inpatient companions should serve as an important basis for the transformation and reform of the inpatient companion culture and for epidemic prevention care in hospitals.

Keywords: coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19); pandemic; cancer inpatient; inpatient companion (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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