An intervention to increase use and effectiveness of self-care measures for breast cancer chemotherapy patients.
Outpatient chemotherapy treatment shifts the managing of side effects from health care providers to patients and families. The primary purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to determine whether women who receive an intervention of three telephone calls and oral and written self-care measures for specific side effects will use more self-care measures and have higher effectiveness scores as measured by the Exercise of Self-Care Questionnaire (ESCQ) after treatment 4 than women who receive standard care. A second purpose was to determine if women scoring higher on the Exercise of Self-Care Agency (ESCA) Scale before chemotherapy used more and effective self-care measures during chemotherapy than women scoring lower on this scale. Forty-eight women beginning chemotherapy for breast cancer completed the ESCA pretreatment and were interviewed using the ESCQ during a sequence of therapy. The experimental group (n = 26) received additional self-care measures. Subjects with higher ESCA scores before chemotherapy treatment used more self-care measures to alleviate chemotherapy side effects. A telephone call and written self-care measures after the second, third, and fourth chemotherapy treatments did not increase use or effectiveness of self-care measures. The implications of assessing patients' self-care agency before chemotherapy are discussed and a nursing intervention recommended.
Craddock
R B
RB
University of Louisville School of Nursing, KY 40292, USA.
Adams
P F
PF
Usui
W M
WM
Mitchell
L
L
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000553:Ambulatory Care; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000451:nursing*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009859:Oncology Nursing; D012648:Self Care; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents