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The purpose of this study was to assess the changes in quality of life wish elapse of chemotherapy in head and neck cancer patients. This study was a longitudinal descriptive design. The subjects were 9 patients who had stage III and stage IV head and neck cancer and received neoadjuvant cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil chemotherapy. Linear Analogue Self Assessment Scale (LASA) of the QOL which it includes eleven items(seven physical items appetite, nausea/vomiting, physical well-being, vigor activity, energy, sleepiness, fatigue and four mental items anger, anxiety, depression & vital power) were used to assess the quality of life eleven times(once in the prechemotherapy period and from the 1st day to 10th day postchemotherapy). The means of scores at each time were analyzed by repealed measures of ANOVA and Bonferroni multiple comparison method. The results are as follows : 1. The degree of appetites decreased significantly on the period between third and sixth day compared with that of appetites on the prechemotherapy day (p<0.001). 2. The degree of physical well-being decreased significantly on the period between first and fifth day compared with that of physical well-being on the prechemotherapy day (p<0.001). 3. The degree of nausea/vomiting decreased significantly on the period between first and fourth day compared with that of appetites on the prechemotherapy day (p<0.001). 4. The degree of anger decreased significantly on the second, fourth, eighth and ninth day after chemotherapy compared with that of anger on the prechemotherapy day(p<0.001). 5. The degree of fatigue decreased significantly on the fourth day compared with that of fatigue on the prechemotherapy day(p<0.001). 6. The increment of nausea/vomiting and poor appetite started on the 2.89th day and 3.67th day after chemotherapy, respectively. 7. The increment of sleepiness started on the 2.56th day after chemotherapy. 8. The increment of depression and anxiety started on the 2.33th day and 3.33th day after chemotherapy, respectively. 9. The lowest degrees of nausea/vomiting and poor appetite were 37.00±17.9 % and 28.64±14.94 % after chemotherapy compared with those of nausea/vomiting and poor appetite on the prechemotherapy day, respectively. 10. The lowest degrees of anger and vigor activity were 48.12±28.3 % and 39.83±24.9 % after chemotherapy compared with those of anger and vigor activity on the prechemotherapy day, respectively. 11. The recovery rates of eight items of quality of life (appetite, vigor activity, energy, fatigue, anger, anxiety, depression & vital power) were shown to reach a peak on the tenth day after chemotherapy and be reached to almost 84 % compared with those of quality of life on the prechemotherapy day. 12. The recovery rates of physical well-being and sleepiness were shown to reach to 67.75 % and 95.68 % on the 10th day after chemotherapy compared with those of physical well-belong and sleepiness on the prechemotherapy day. 13. The recovery rates of seven physical items were faster than those of four mental items on the 10th day after chemotherapy. In conclusion, it is suggested that nursing care strategies to improve the quality of life in patients with chemotherapy would be established both physically and mentally, and be extended at least ten days when patients stayed their home after chemotherapy.
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