The diary as a means of understanding the quality of life of persons with cancer receiving home nursing care.

In order to gain insight into the quality of life from a patient perspective, individuals with cancer receiving home nursing care were given diaries to record the occurrence of health problems. On the average, health problems were reported on 35% of the recording days. Concerns related to somatic discomfort accounted for 76% of all health problems reported. Overall, digestive problems were the most commonly reported category of health problems. Those with lung cancer reported the highest average number of health problems per person (means = 9.3) and the greatest diversity of problems during the recording period. The results also suggest a common core of health problems important to cancer patients, with the relative importance of these problems varying by cancer diagnosis.