A Preliminary Study of the Comfort in Patients with Leukemia Staying in a Positive Pressure Isolation Room

Background and Aim: Patients with leukemia who are isolated in positive pressure rooms for infection prevention usually experience significant physical and psychological distress. This study aimed to examine changes in leukemia patients' comfort level during chemotherapy in isolation wards. Methods: A longitudinal survey was conducted with measures which were repeated four times. Data were collected before chemotherapy, on the first and second week after receiving chemotherapy in positive pressure isolation rooms, and on the third week in the non-isolated hematology ward. Each patient received six questionnaires measuring demographic data, comfort status, functional status, fatigue related to cancer therapy, anxiety level, and distress symptoms. A mixed model with repeated measure analysis was used to examine the changing trajectories in physical and psychological health. Results: Twenty-one patients completed the study. During the process, the highest score for comfort level was shown before chemotherapy, and this decreased from the second week under isolation. Anxiety and uncertainty (p < 0.05) declined over time, and emotional states improved during the recovery period in the third and fourth weeks outside isolation. Physical well-being (p < 0.01), cancer-related fatigue (p < 0.05), hemoglobin (p < 0.01) and white blood cell count (p < 0.05) began to rise two weeks after chemotherapy. Conclusion: Comfort levels declined after chemotherapy until the third week of treatment. Anxiety, fatigue and distress symptoms varied across the four time points of chemotherapy from isolation to return to the non-isolated ward. Health care professionals should be aware of psychological symptoms when patients are in isolation rooms, and interventions for promoting a humanized environment, quality of life, and comfort should be considered and provided along with the treatment stages of chemotherapy.