Effect of self-care education on the quality of life in patients with breast cancer

CONTEXT: Breast cancer is the most common cancer among Iranian women. Although survival rate of breast cancer patients has been increased some distresses affect the patients’ quality of life negatively. the effectiveness of self-care education, particularly in the sociocultural context of Iran, has not been adequately investigated. AIMS: This study aims at evaluating the effectiveness of nurse-led self-care education program on quality of life in this patients. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: A controlled trial as pretest and posttest design was conducted in Sayyed-Al-Shohada Hospital in Isfahan in 2012. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixty patients with breast cancer were assigned to either the nurse-led self-care education program (n = 30), or to routine care (n = 30). Quality of life was measured at the time of recruitment and also 3 months after the intervention by the instrument of the National Medical Center and Beckman Research Institute. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Data were analyzed by SPSS (version 16) software using T-independent, T-paired and χ(2), and Fisher's exact tests. RESULTS: The intervention group had significantly greater improvements in quality of life status (P < 0.05). Furthermore, self-care education caused a significant increase in the quality of life score related to physical (P = 0.00), psychological (P = 0.00), social (P = 0.00), and emotional (P = 0.00) dimensions. CONCLUSIONS: Quality of life in patients with breast cancer can be improved by participating in a nurse-led self-care education program. It is suggested that self-care education to be added to the routine nursing care delivered to these patients.