The Effect of Supportive Educational Intervention on Perceived Stress and Severity of Chemotherapy-Related Neuropathy in Breast Cancer Patients

The nature of breast cancer (BC) and its treatment is such that it leads to physical and psychological complications.

The present study aimed to determine the effect of supportive educational intervention on the perceived stress and severity of chemotherapy-related neuropathy in BC patients.

This quasi-experimental study was carried out on 60 women suffering from BC in Zahedan, Iran, in 2020. The patients were selected using the convenience sampling method and randomly assigned into two groups of intervention and control. The patients in the intervention group received four 45-minute sessions about the common problems of BC on a weekly and individual basis. The control group received only routine ward care. Data collection tools were the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) developed by Cohen and Leeds Assessment of Neuropathic Symptoms and Signs (LANSS) Pain Scale. Data were collected before the intervention and six weeks after the intervention. Data analysis was performed using SPSS 22 software.

The results of independent t-test showed that the mean and standard deviation of perceived stress score in the intervention group decreased from 56.8 ± 5.92 to 50.36 ± 3.89 (P < 0.001), and in the control group decreased from 55.6 ± 3.65 to 54.8 ± 3.53 (P = 0.258). The mean and standard deviation of neuropathy severity score in the intervention group decreased from 12.90 ± 1.66 to 8.43 ± 2.16 (P < 0.001), and in the control group increased from 12.56 ± 2.28 to 13.03 ± 1.93 (P = 0.276). The independent t-test showed that after implementing the supportive educational intervention, there was a significant difference between the two groups in terms of mean and standard deviation of neuropathy severity score (P < 0.001).

According to our results, supportive educational intervention reduced the perceived stress and severity of neuropathy. Thus, it is necessary to include these supportive interventions in educational and care programs to improve patients’ psychological status and reduce stress and neuropathy.