A nurse-led palliative care programme for women receiving palliative chemotherapy for breast cancer.

IF 3.7 2区医学 Q2 HEALTH CARE SCIENCES & SERVICES

BMC Palliative Care Pub Date : 2026-06-04 DOI:10.1186/s12904-026-02176-z

Sulleh Gbande, Johanna Elizabeth Maree, Oluchukwu Loveth Obiora

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Abstract

Background: Globally, breast cancer is the most common cancer among women, with 2.3 million women newly diagnosed in 2020. In Africa, most women present with advanced disease necessitating nurse-led palliative care interventions. This study pilot tested a nurse-led palliative care programme for women receiving palliative chemotherapy for breast cancer at a teaching hospital in the Volta Region of Ghana.

Methods: An intervention design and pre-test post-test approach was used. The primary outcome focused on unmet palliative care needs and secondary outcomes included pain, quality of life, and spiritual needs, measured by means of the Symptoms Distress Scale (SDC), Brief Pain Inventory (BPI), Spiritual Needs Questionnaire (SpNQ), and European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire - Breast Cancer Module 45 items (EORTC QLQ-BR45). Census sampling entered 31 women in the programme but only 24 completed it. Descriptive statistics were used to analyzed the data and the Wilcoxon signed-rank test, with significance set at p ≤ 0.05, compared the medians of the two samples. The study was registered with Pan African Clinical Trial Registry (PACTR202509735988120) on September 29th, 2025.

Results: Results showed positive outcomes post-intervention. Symptom distress decreased from x̄ 2.98 to x̄ 1.97, pain severity reduced from x̄ 9.34 to x̄ 2.75, and quality of life improved from x̄ 2.79 to x̄ 1.94. Spiritual needs increased from x̄ 1.04 to x̄ 3.00.

Conclusion: The study provided evidence that a nurse-led palliative care programme, based on the care needs of women with advanced breast cancer receiving palliative chemotherapy in the Volta Region of Ghana, lessened symptom distress, pain and improved quality of life.

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针对接受姑息化疗的乳腺癌妇女的护士主导的姑息治疗方案。

背景：在全球范围内，乳腺癌是女性中最常见的癌症，2020年新诊断的女性人数为230万。在非洲，大多数妇女患有晚期疾病，需要护士主导的姑息治疗干预措施。本研究在加纳Volta地区的一家教学医院试点测试了一项护士主导的姑息治疗方案，该方案针对接受姑息化疗的乳腺癌妇女。方法：采用干预设计和前测后测方法。主要结果集中于未满足的姑息治疗需求，次要结果包括疼痛、生活质量和精神需求，通过症状困扰量表（SDC）、简短疼痛量表（BPI）、精神需求问卷（SpNQ）和欧洲癌症研究和治疗组织生活质量问卷-乳腺癌模块45项（EORTC QLQ-BR45）进行测量。人口普查抽样将31名妇女纳入该方案，但只有24人完成了该方案。采用描述性统计进行数据分析，采用Wilcoxon sign -rank检验比较两样本的中位数，显著性设置为p≤0.05。该研究已于2025年9月29日在泛非临床试验注册中心注册（PACTR202509735988120）。结果：干预后结果积极。症状窘迫从x′2.98降至x′1.97，疼痛严重程度从x′9.34降至x′2.75，生活质量从x′2.79降至x′1.94。精神需求从x ' 1.04增加到x ' 3.00。结论：该研究提供的证据表明，基于加纳Volta地区接受姑息化疗的晚期乳腺癌妇女的护理需求，护士主导的姑息治疗方案减轻了症状困扰和疼痛，提高了生活质量。

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来源期刊

BMC Palliative Care HEALTH CARE SCIENCES & SERVICES-

CiteScore

4.60

自引率

9.70%

发文量

201

审稿时长

21 weeks

期刊介绍： BMC Palliative Care is an open access journal publishing original peer-reviewed research articles in the clinical, scientific, ethical and policy issues, local and international, regarding all aspects of hospice and palliative care for the dying and for those with profound suffering related to chronic illness.