Effect of continuous nursing on wound infection and quality of life in patients with cancer‐related stoma: A meta‐analysis

A meta‐analysis was conducted to comprehensively assess the effect of continuous nursing on wound infection and quality of life in patients with cancer‐related stomas, providing an evidence‐based rationale for the care of these patients. A computerised search of PubMed, Web of Science, Ovid, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, and Wanfang Data for randomised controlled trials (RCTs) on the effect of continuous nursing on wound infection and quality of life in patients with cancer‐related stoma was conducted from the time the database was created to March 2023. The retrieved literature was screened, data were extracted, and the quality of the literature was evaluated according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Meta‐analysis was performed using RevMan 5.4 software. Seventeen RCTs involving 1437 patients were included. Of the 1437 patients, 728 were in the continuous nursing group and 709 were in the control group. The results showed that continuous nursing significantly reduced the rate of wound infection in patients with cancer‐related stomas (odds ratio [OR]: 0.30, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.16–0.53, p < 0.001) and improved their quality of life (standardised mean difference: 1.90. 95% CI: 1.32–2.47, p < 0.001). Available evidence suggests that continuous nursing for patients with cancer‐related stomas can significantly reduce wound infections and improve their quality of life.