Effect of a home-based, nurse-led health program on quality of life and family function for postoperative patients with early-stage breast cancer

Objective To explore the effect of a home-based, nurse-led health program on quality of life and family function for postoperative patients with early-stage breast cancer. Methods A total of 140 early-stage breast cancer patients, from Union Hospital of Tongji Medical College Huazhong University of Science and Technology between August 2016 and August 2017, were divided into intervention group and control group by random digits table method. Patients in control group only received conventional nursing education. Patients in intervention group received an individual home-based, nurse-led health program, in addition to conventional nursing education. After six months of intervention, the family function was assessed by using Familiy Adaptability and Cohesion Scale, quality of life was assessed by using Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy for Breast Cancer. Results In this study,13 patients were excluded in 140 patients, 65 cases in intervention group and 62 cases in control group. After six months of intervention, cohesion and adaptability scores in intervention group were (71.52±8.76), (52.09±5.97), respectively. Cohesion and adaptability scores in control group were (65.90±7.72), (46.59±6.98), the difference was statistically significant (t=3.838, 4.786, P<0.05). After three and six months of intervention, social/familial and total scores in intervention group were (16.75±3.28), (17.90±4.05) and (90.39±9.07), (96.38±8.86), respectively. While cohesion and adaptability scores in control group were (15.43±2.51), (15.02±4.02) and (85.93±8.57), (86.19±9.81), the scores mentioned above in intervention group were markedly higher than in control group, the difference was statistically significant (t=2.531-6.151, 4.786, P<0.05 or 0.01). In addition, after six months of intervention, emotional (17.60±3.32), functional (14.69±3.85), breast cancer (25.32±4.70) scores were also higher than in control group (15.37±3.28), (12.89±4.00), (22.48±3.94), the difference was statistically significant (t=3.805, 2.574,3.681, P<0.01 or 0.05). Conclusions A home-based, nurse-led health promotion program improves the quality of life and family function in postoperative patients with early-stage breast cancer. Key words: Breast neoplasms; Family nursing; Quality of life; Family function