Effect of a Discharge Planning Program on the Quality of Life in Women with breast Cancer

Women with Breast Cancer (BC) under chemotherapy are at risk of complications affecting their Quality of Life (QoL), which need specific discharge planning.

This study aims to investigate the effect of a discharge planning program on the QoL of women with BC.

This quasi-experimental study was conducted on 72 women with BC undergoing chemotherapy referred to oncology wards in Kermanshah, Iran. They were divided into groups of intervention (n=35) and control group (n=35) using the block randomization method. For the intervention group, the discharge planning program was implemented individually and in group at least 4 sessions, each for 30-45 minutes. Patients’ QoL in both groups was measured before, one month after, and three months after intervention using two questionnaires of European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (QLQ C-30 and QLQ-BR23). The collected data were analyzed using ANOVA, chi-square test, t-test, and repeated measures ANOVA. The significance level was set at 0.05.

The mean age of participants was 47.71±10.4 years, and majority of them were in the second stage of BC. There was a significant difference in all functional scales of QoL in the intervention group over time from baseline to three months after discharge (P<0.05), except in sexual functioning (P= 0.119) and sexual enjoyment  (P= 0.210).

The discharge planning program has a positive effect on the Quality of Life of women with Brest Cancer.