Abstract

Chemotherapy has both potential medical therapeutic benefits and deleterious side effects. Chemotherapy is an acceptable adjuvant treatment procedure for cancer patients. Hence, the study seeks to determine the perception and attitude of cancer patients towards administration of chemotherapy to in the Oncology and Palliative Care Unit in Federal Medical Centre, Makurdi which was created in 2013. Study was descriptive research design and 16 patients who consented to participate in the study completed a 23 items questionnaire. Results show that 68% of patients agreed that chemotherapy has distressful side effects, but 31.3% disagreed. 68% patients disagreed that the side effects are worse than cancer itself, yet 25.5% of the patients agreed. Invariably, 87% of the patients accepted that chemotherapy controlled their illness. There was a significant difference between male and female patients’ perception and attitude to chemotherapy administration [t[14]=-.910 p< 0.05. In view of the findings obtained, it obvious that cancer treatment is physically and emotionally challenging, like the disease itself. Therefore, patients should always be educated on the expected side effect, self-care behaviors and self-management of side effects of chemotherapy in order to enhance their adjustment, coping for continuation and completion of their prescribed regimen of chemotherapy.

Keywords: Chemotherapy; Cancer patients; Perception; Attitude; Side effects