Effect of Teaching Self-care Module on Radiation- therapy Side Effects and Clinical Outcomes of Head and Neck Cancer Patients

Abstract:The major concern of health care professionals regarding the value of teaching self-care for management of side effects of radiation therapy of head and neck cancer patients is the improvement of their clinical outcomes. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of self-care teaching module on radiation-induced side effects and clinical outcomes among head and neck cancer patient. Subjets: a quasi-experimental randomized controlled study design was used . Asample of (50) adult patients with head and neck cancer undergoing recent radiation therapy were divided into two equal groups; control group did not receive self-care teaching module about acute side effect whereas these self-care teaching module was provided by the researcher to the study group.Three tools were utilized to collect data. Tool I was structured patient assessment interview questionnaire. Tool (II) Modified Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance scale (ECOG). Tool (III) was Self-care questionnaire. Results: The main results revealed that there were improvement of mean scores regarding change of quality grade of functional ability of the study group II in one and three months after receiving self-care teaching module with very high statistical significance difference. Also, the occurrence and severity of acute side effects was improved in the study group II compared to control group I.Conclusion and recommendations: It was recommended that teaching self-care module to the patients before receiving radiation therapy should be used as routine intervention for all head and neck cancer patients.