Exploring readiness for discharge, quality of discharge teaching, and fear of disease progression in lung cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy: A correlation analysis

Background To explore the correlation between the current status of discharge preparation, quality of discharge teaching, and fear of disease progression among patients with lung cancer undergoing chemotherapy to provide a basis for improving patients' level of preparation.Methods In this cross-sectional study, convenience sampling was used to select 452 patients with lung cancer who received chemotherapy and were admitted to the Department of Medical Oncology of the Cancer Hospital, between February 2023 and April 2023. A general information questionnaire, discharge preparation scale, quality of discharge teaching scale, and fear of disease progression scale were used to conduct surveys 2 h before the patients were discharged.Results The score for discharge preparation among lung cancer patients with chemotherapy was 99.11 +/- 14.79 and the item score was 8.26 +/- 1.23. The score for quality of discharge teaching was 193.23 +/- 37.69, and that for fear of disease progression was 25.47 +/- 8.92. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that sex, marital status, treatment period, quality of discharge teaching, and fear of disease progression influenced discharge readiness among patients with lung cancer receiving chemotherapy. Pearson's correlation analysis showed that the total quality of the discharge guidance score was positively correlated with the discharge readiness score (r = 0.288, p < 0.001). In contrast, the total fear of disease progression score was negatively correlated with the discharge preparation score (r = -0.252, p < 0.001).Conclusion Discharge readiness among patients with lung cancer receiving chemotherapy was relatively at the good level, and there was a significant correlation between readiness for discharge, discharge teaching and fear of disease progression in these patients. Therefore, it is necessary to provide effective discharge guidance and implement targeted intervention measures to further improve patient preparation, reduce the fear of disease progression, and promote patient ability of coping with the disease and overall satisfaction.