Effects of Telephone-based Self-care Intervention for Gynecologic Cancer Patients Receiving Chemotherapy: A Quasi-Experimental Study

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate whether a telephone-based self-care intervention improved self-care knowledge, self-efficacy, and self-care performance of gynecologic cancer patients receiving chemotherapy.Methods: This quasi-experimental study used a non-equivalent control group pretest-posttest design. The participants included 38 gynecologic cancer patients who were admitted to Seoul National University Hospital and received chemotherapy. To reduce the spread of the experimental treatment, the control group was recruited prior to the experimental group, with matching inclusion criteria for age, diagnosis, and chemotherapeutic agent. The experimental group received education on managing chemotherapy side effects in the form of a booklet prior to chemotherapy and four telephone-based self-care interventions after discharge. The control group received only education on managing chemotherapy side effects in the form of a booklet prior to chemotherapy. Data were collected prior to the intervention and 3 weeks after the first-line chemotherapy cycle ended. Outcomes were measured using a self-care knowledge measurement tool, the New General Self-Efficacy Scale and a self-care performance assessment scale. The statistical analysis was performed using the x2 test, Fisher's exact test, Shapiro-Wilk normality test, paired t-test and independent t-test.Results: Significant differences were found between the two groups in scores for self-care knowledge (t=-2.64, p=.012), self-efficacy (t=-4.32, p<.001), and self-care performance (t=-2.53, p=.016) after the telephone-based self-care intervention.Conclusion: This telephone-based self-care intervention was effective for improving self-care knowledge, self-efficacy, and self-care performance.