Causes of inadequate intake of nutrients during the treatment of children with chemotherapy.

Purpose: The purpose of the research was to explore nurses' perceptions of different causes of inadequate food intake in children treated with chemotherapy and to determine how often nurses identify these causes.

Method: Qualitative and quantitative approaches were used. Qualitative data were first gathered using semistructured interviews in a sample of six nurses and analysed by conventional content analysis. Based on the results of qualitative data and literature analysis, a 28-item questionnaire was developed and evaluated for its face validity in a sample of fifteen nurses. Questionnaires were then administered to twenty-seven nurses working at one pediatric oncology ward. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistic.

Results: The major themes that emerge from the content analysis, describing nurses' perceptions of causes of inadequate food intake in children undergoing chemotherapy, were as follows: physiological causes of eating problems, psychological causes of eating problems, change in food selection, hospital food and individual counselling. 13 causes of inadequate food intake were identified from the questionnaire data. Pain due to mucositis was the most commonly identified cause of inadequate food intake in children, followed by nausea and vomiting, altered taste, loss of appetite and an altered smell. Psychological causes of eating problems are rarely identified.

Conclusion: Nurses identify most of the physiological and psychological causes of inadequate food intake in children treated with chemotherapy. The early identification and management by nurses of inadequate food intakes should be part of the curriculum for nurse education as well as part of treatment planning in clinical environment.