Leila Heydarzadeh* and Nasrin Heydarzadeh
Background: Cancer is the second leading cause of death after heart disease.
Objectives: This study was conducted to determine the effect of peer education on self-care behavior on the effects of chemotherapy in patients undergoing chemotherapy.
Methods: This research is a clinical trial. Sixty cancer patients were randomly assigned to the two control groups. In addition to routine training, the intervention group members were provided with self-care training in the field of chemotherapy and side effects. The control group received only common training, ie training by a doctor and a hospital nurse, and soon. The data collection tool was a demographic information questionnaire and a questionnaire on the effectiveness of self-care behavior in patients undergoing chemotherapy and chemotherapy. Data were collected at the beginning of the study and after the completion of the first course of chemotherapy. Finally, the data were analyzed by SPSS software version 19.
Results: In the pre-test phase, the independent t-test did not show a significant difference in on self-care behavior from chemotherapy and treatment complications between the two groups (p<0.05). However, in the postexperimental phase, there was a significant difference in the effectiveness score of self-care behavior in chemotherapytherapeutic effects between the two groups of test and control (p<0.05). Also, the T-pair test showed a significant difference between the pre- and post-intervention stage in the test group (p<0.05).
Conclusion: Peer education promotes on self-care behaviors, so the use of peer education for cancer patients under chemotherapy is recommended along with other educational methods.