• JeongSeon Kim, HyunSoo Oh, and WhaSook Seo.
• Department of Nursing, Inha University, Inha University Hospital, Incheon, Republic of Korea.
• Eur J Oncol Nurs. 2018 Dec 1; 37: 23-28.

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to identify demographic, health- and cancer-related, and physiological factors associated with dexamethasone-induced intractable hiccups in cancer patients.MethodThis study adopted a retrospective case control design. The study subjects were 168 cancer patients admitted to a university hospital for chemotherapy between October 2011 and December 2016: 58 patients who experienced intractable hiccups while on dexamethasone (cases) and 110 matched patients who received dexamethasone but did not experience hiccups (controls). Data were collected from most recent medical records and included demographic, health- and cancer-related, and physiological factors.ResultsOur findings demonstrated that the development of dexamethasone-induced hiccups was significantly associated with a male gender, a young age, overweight/obesity, the use of alkylating anticancer agents (particularly as the first anticancer drug), high levels of hemoglobin, serum creatinine, uric acid, and albumin, and an elevated body temperature.ConclusionsOncology nurses should be aware of influencing factors of dexamethasone-induced hiccups in cancer patients receiving chemotherapy. Our findings may provide evidence to design oncology nursing strategies that help maximize the benefits of chemotherapy in cancer patients.Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

19 keywords...

hide…