Emotional Support Improves Quality of Life in Women undergoing Radiation Therapy for Breast Cancer-A Wait List Control Arm

Context: Radiotherapy may lead to side effects that undermine patient's quality of life. Although the support like emotional support appears to improve quality of life in breast cancer patients and only little is known about their benefits for patients who are receiving radiation therapy.

Objectives: The current study examined the efficiency of emotional support focused nurse directed intervention on quality of life among breast cancer women.

Methods: Fifty women with breast cancer were recruited from Erode Cancer Centre at Erode and were randomized to experimental arm (n= 25) and wait list control arm (n=25). Women in the experimental arm attended one to one emotional support focused nurse directed intervention with 7 sessions for the period of 30-45 minutes five times in a week for three months. Quality of life outcomes were assessed at baseline, during treatment and at the end of treatment.

Results: The mean age of the women was between 50 and 55 years. Multilevel analyses revealed that women in the experimental arm reported improved quality of life over time than women in the wait list control arm.

Conclusions: The current results indicated that emotional support may have therapeutic effects in the management of quality of life among women who are receiving radiation therapy for breast cancer.