Probing the Impact of Self-Care Education on the Quality of Life of Women with Breast Cancer Undergoing Chemotherapy: A Quasi-Experimental Study

Breast cancer and its treatment could both lead to numerous physical and psychological complications. Alleviating these problems requires increasing the quality of life of patients. Therefore, it is important to understand the quality of life of these individuals and identify its affecting variables so as to develop interventions for improving both their quality of life and self-care behaviors.

The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of self-care education on the quality of life of women with breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy at two hospitals affiliated with Zahedan University of Medical Sciences in 2019.

This quasi-experimental two-group study was performed on 90 women with breast cancer who had been admitted at two teaching hospitals of Zahedan University of Medical Sciences. Convenience sampling was used to recruit the subjects who were then randomized into the experimental (n = 45) and control (n = 45) groups. The two groups filled out a demographic questionnaire in addition to the European Organization for Research and Treatment-QOL and Breast Cancer Specific Module questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30 and QLQ-BR23). The control group only received routine care. The questionnaires were completed again six weeks after the intervention. Data analysis was conducted in SPSS-21 using independent t-test, chi-square test, paired t-test, and Shapiro-Wilcoxon test. Values below 0.05 were considered statistically significant.

Totally, 90 participants completed the study. The mean and standard deviation of the general quality of life in the experimental group increased from 52.59 ± 21.08 before the intervention to 78.88 ± 12.38 at the end of the study (P = 0.001). Besides, the mean general quality of life was 78.88 ± 12.38 in the experimental group and 56.11 ± 17.62 in the control group, indicating a statistically significant difference between the two groups (P = 0.001).

According to the findings of this study, self-care training can lead to an increase in the quality of life in patients with breast cancer. It is therefore suggested that this education be adopted as a major principle in care planning for these individuals.