Supportive Care Needs Trajectories in Patients With Advanced Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer Receiving Chemotherapy: A Longitudinal Study

BackgroundThe supportive care needs trajectories in patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) during chemotherapy and the related factors have yet to be explored or addressed in the literature.PurposeThis study was designed to investigate supportive care needs trajectories in patients with advanced NSCLC receiving chemotherapy and the association between the sociodemographic and disease characteristics of these patients over the four cycles of chemotherapy.MethodsFor this longitudinal study, 95 patients with advanced NSCLC were recruited using convenience sampling at a medical center in Taiwan. The supportive care needs of the participants were assessed in each of the four chemotherapy cycles using the Needs Evaluation Questionnaire-Chinese version (NEQ-C) with 23 dichotomous items on the day before and the seventh day after the end of each cycle. Group-based trajectory modeling was applied to identify the classes of supportive care needs trajectories, whereas chi-square tests were used to examine the factors related to these classes.ResultsSeventy-one participants completed all eight questionnaire sessions across the four cycles. The mean NEQ-C scores for these participants ranged between 14.4 and 14.6. Three classes of supportive care needs trajectories (low, moderate, and high) were identified for the entire NEQ-C and for each domain. Marital status was found to be associated with the classes of trajectories related to supportive care and assistance/care needs, spouse as the primary caregiver was found to be associated with the classes of trajectories related to information needs, and educational level was found to be associated with the classes of trajectories related to psychoemotional support needs.ConclusionsThe results of this study indicate that marital status and spouse as primary caregiver relate significantly to supportive care needs trajectories in patients with advanced NSCLC during chemotherapy. Healthcare professionals should provide continuous, tailored supportive care interventions that address the needs of patients and their spouses/partners.