The effect of Orem-based self-care education on improving self-care ability of patients undergoing chemotherapy: a randomized clinical trial

BACKGROUND: Cancer is a frightening disease. Therefore, the care of cancer patients is very complex. This study aimed to investigate the effect of the education based on Orem’s self-care model on self-care abilities of the patients undergoing chemotherapy in Shafa Hospital in Ahvaz city, Iran. METHODS: This randomized clinical trial was carried out in 2018 on 100 cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, who referred to Shafa Hospital in Ahvaz city, Iran. The sampling method was simple and the subjects were randomly divided into two experimental and control groups (50 in the experimental and 50 in the control group). The study outcome was the self-care ability of the patients measured before and 2 months after the intervention by the control and experimental groups. The educational intervention consisted of five 60-minute sessions (one session per week) held as educational and counseling ones through group, face-to-face and individual training based on the identified needs of the patients in the experimental group at Shafa Hospital Chemotherapy Department. To collect data, two questionnaires [the assess and identify the conceptual pattern of Orem questionnaire and the Self-care capacity assessment (ESCI)]were used. Statistical data were entered into SPSS software version 20 and analyzed by chi-square, independent t-test and paired t-test. RESULTS: The mean and standard deviation of age was 35.06 ± 14.51 in the control group and 31.72 ± 15.01 in the experimental group. The results of the independent t-test showed that before the educational intervention, there was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of the mean self-care (P = 0.38). But after the intervention, a significant difference was found between the mean self-care scores of the experimental and control groups (P = 0.001). CONCLUSION: Application of Orem’s self-care model led to increased self-care ability of the cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. Therefore, it is recommended that this model be included in the routine programs of chemotherapy departments. TRIAL REGISTRATION: IRCT registration number: IRCT20160418027449N6. Registration date: 01/05/2019.