Psychological and Physical Experiences of Breast Cancer Patients Undergoing Chemotherapy

Article Critique
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Article Critique
General Overview
The research critiqued in the study is titled “Changes in fatigue, psychological distress, and quality of life after chemotherapy in women with breast cancer,” published in Cancer Nursing, a peer-reviewed journal. The research title is articulate and comprehensive because it focuses on the factors being investigated in the study. Moreover, the title also showcases the research focus and scope, particularly the population (women with breast cancer). First, the research article is well-written because it contains all the components of a scholarly article. It is comprehensive and peer-reviewed, including clear objectives and purposes that have been articulated in the introduction. The abstract also gives a holistic summary and overview of what readers should expect in the study. Another critical component regarding the study is the language employed. As a scholarly article, the authors were influential in using appropriate language suitable for scientific research. Notably, the language is articulate and includes all essential components to make logically and ethically convincing arguments. There is also an elaborate inclusion of various sections in the article, which affirms the organization of the information into sections that readers can follow. In this regard, the authors have succeeded in convincing the audience about the issues being discussed. Moreover, the overall outlook of the paper is outstanding because of the specific and elaborate sections used in the text.
Review of Introduction
Cancer is has caused significant distress among people and devastated the wellbeing of family, both socially and economically. The use of chemotherapy is applied among many patients with breast cancer and has increased survival rates for the victims. However, as the authors note, chemotherapy leads to physical symptoms, including vomiting, fatigue, hair loss, pain, and psychological distress. These aspects have been observed in many patients with breast cancer, especially pain, fatigue, and anxiety. While there are interventions to minimize the impacts of these symptoms, they are associated with a reduced quality of life and treatment adherence. With these prevailing challenges, the authors intended to "identify the changes and interrelationships in the fatigue-depression-anxiety symptom cluster and quality of life during cancer care" (Oh & Cho, 2018, p. E54). These symptoms usually occur during chemotherapy, but numerous longitudinal studies have shown inconsistent findings on the changes of these cluster symptoms during cancer care. Therefore, the study was vital to understand how these statements were related. There are also no studies that have investigated the impact of minimizing fatigue on the psychological wellbeing of the patient. Therefore, the authors establish the problem statement comprehensively and outline a clear objective for the research. Moreover, the research is objective because it builds upon past research findings. As the analysis shows, the author supported the hypothesis about the anxiety, fatigue, and quality of life of women undergoing che...