An intervention to increase use and effectiveness of self-care measures for breast cancer chemotherapy patients

Abstract

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.