Abstract
Purpose: This study aims to identify how patients after laryngectomy (PaL) feel about their lives before discharge.
Methods: The participants received total laryngectomy for peri-laryngeal cancer. They were interviewed for physical condition and concerns in daily lives, and how they coped with them before discharge. Qualitative induction was used to analyze. This study was conducted by obtaining the approval of the Ethical Review Committee of the university the researcher belongs to.
Results: All 9 participants were male, and the mean age was 68.2 years.
They “felt their bodies were recuperating” from the surgical invasion with free from respiratory distress and other pains before the surgery. However, they were “concerned about their bodies” because they lost own voice and due to the resection of their larynx with increased phlegm.
While they felt that “unable to spend daily lives as they expected” about to swallow and to breathe, they also felt their bodies remain unchanged. And they tried to “identify the changes in daily life” through understanding the details changed by the surgery.
Through these attempts, they felt “the loss of a familiar life” including “feeling lonely by inability to spend as before”. They also felt a strong desire for the people to “understand the existence of PaLs”.
They suffered from “constant worrying,” however, they accepted the changes after the surgery by gaining “further understanded themselves through interactions with others” and “seeking a compromise”.
Thereby PaLs proceed to “try to adjust their daily lives” again. Moreover, they evaluated the degree to acquire self-care skills necessary for their lives. What facilitated this process was "desires to return to my former self", “living freely”, and so on. They proceeded to “identify the changes in their daily lives” more by gaining new awareness.
Conclusion: After reanalyzing the data with more 5 new participants, we identified two new concepts, "Desires to return to my former self" and “living freely”. This suggests that aspects of PaLs's lives before discharge were complex. The newly discovered concepts suggest that they experience many unexpected difficulties in their lives after surgery. And it was suggested that they are becoming increasingly anxious about acquiring the physical strength and self-care skills necessary to lead a stable life afterwards. It is important for nurses to provide appropriate information and psychological support.
Notes
References:
Kotake, K., Kai K., Iwanaga, K., Suzukamo, Y., & Takahashi, A. (2019). Effects of Occupational Status on Social Adjustment after Laryngectomy in Patients with Laryngeal and Hypopharyngeal Cancer. European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology. 276(5). 1439-1446. doi:10. 1007/s00405-019-05378-9
Yang, H., Zeng, F., Pang. T., Zhang, H., & Lu. J. (2021). A Qualitative Study of the Experience of Returning to Family Life and the Coping Styles of Patients after Total Laryngectomy. Annals of Palliative Medicine, 10(11), 11482-11491. doi:10.21037/apm-21-2687
Sigma Membership
Tau Nu
Type
Poster
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
Other
Research Approach
Qualitative Research
Keywords:
Long-term Care, Laryngectomy, Laryngectomees, Quality of Life
Recommended Citation
Haba, Kaori; Kotake, Kumiko; Kurita, Mami; Iwanaga, Kazuyo; Kai, Ichiro; Suzukamo, Yoshimi; Takahashi, Aya; Ishibashi, Yoko; Hara, Yoriko; Ota, Ichiro; and Uemura, Hirokazu, "Life of Patients after Laryngectomy Before Hospital Discharge" (2026). International Nursing Research Congress (INRC). 68.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/inrc/2026/posters_2026/68
Conference Name
37th International Nursing Research Congress
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Conference Year
2026
Rights Holder
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record. All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository. All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.
Review Type
Abstract Review Only: Reviewed by Event Host
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
Date of Issue
2026-08-12
Life of Patients after Laryngectomy Before Hospital Discharge
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Purpose: This study aims to identify how patients after laryngectomy (PaL) feel about their lives before discharge.
Methods: The participants received total laryngectomy for peri-laryngeal cancer. They were interviewed for physical condition and concerns in daily lives, and how they coped with them before discharge. Qualitative induction was used to analyze. This study was conducted by obtaining the approval of the Ethical Review Committee of the university the researcher belongs to.
Results: All 9 participants were male, and the mean age was 68.2 years.
They “felt their bodies were recuperating” from the surgical invasion with free from respiratory distress and other pains before the surgery. However, they were “concerned about their bodies” because they lost own voice and due to the resection of their larynx with increased phlegm.
While they felt that “unable to spend daily lives as they expected” about to swallow and to breathe, they also felt their bodies remain unchanged. And they tried to “identify the changes in daily life” through understanding the details changed by the surgery.
Through these attempts, they felt “the loss of a familiar life” including “feeling lonely by inability to spend as before”. They also felt a strong desire for the people to “understand the existence of PaLs”.
They suffered from “constant worrying,” however, they accepted the changes after the surgery by gaining “further understanded themselves through interactions with others” and “seeking a compromise”.
Thereby PaLs proceed to “try to adjust their daily lives” again. Moreover, they evaluated the degree to acquire self-care skills necessary for their lives. What facilitated this process was "desires to return to my former self", “living freely”, and so on. They proceeded to “identify the changes in their daily lives” more by gaining new awareness.
Conclusion: After reanalyzing the data with more 5 new participants, we identified two new concepts, "Desires to return to my former self" and “living freely”. This suggests that aspects of PaLs's lives before discharge were complex. The newly discovered concepts suggest that they experience many unexpected difficulties in their lives after surgery. And it was suggested that they are becoming increasingly anxious about acquiring the physical strength and self-care skills necessary to lead a stable life afterwards. It is important for nurses to provide appropriate information and psychological support.
Description
This study aims to identify how patients after laryngectomy (PaL) feel about their lives in the period before Hospital discharge. The PaL before Hospital discharge seems to be trying to find a way to live peacefully in their own ways. The newly discovered concepts suggest that they experience many unexpected difficulties in their lives. It is important for medical professionals to provide appropriate information and psychological support.