Effect of evidence-based nursing intervention on upper limb function in postoperative radiotherapy patients with breast cancer

Abstract

To investigate the effect of evidence-based nursing (EBN) intervention on upper limb function in postoperative breast cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy.A total of 126 breast cancer patients who had received postoperative radiotherapy in the Union Hospital affiliated with Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology from September 2017 to September 2018 were randomly divided into 2 groups, namely, experimental and control groups, with 63 cases in each group. Both the control and experimental groups received routine postoperative radiotherapy followed by traditional and EBN interventions, respectively. All patients were followed up for 6 months and differences in the upper limb function after nursing intervention were compared between the 2 groups.The scores of self-rating anxiety scale (SAS), self-rating depression scale (SDS), and short form-36 survey (SF-36) in the 2 groups had no statistical significance before intervention. After the EBN intervention, the SAS and self-rating depression scale scores of patients in the experimental group were lower than that of those in the control group. In the experimental group, 90.67% of the patients had an excellent score for the University of California, Los Angeles shoulder score, which was higher than that of the control group (73.92%). The Mayo Elbow Performance Score of the experimental group (95.01) was higher than that of the control group (91.33). The total length of the sum of arm circumference in the experimental group was (128.39 cm) lower than that of the control group (143.66 cm). The scores of SF-36 in the overall health, physical pain, mental health, and physiological functions of the patients in the experimental group were higher than those of the control group. All of these parameters' differences between the 2 groups were of statistical significance (P < .05).EBN can positively influence the negative emotional state of breast cancer patients after radiotherapy. At the same time, it is helpful in reducing the degree of lymph node edema on the affected side of the upper limb, thereby improving the function of the shoulder joint, which has a positive effect on the upper limb function.