A Structured Teaching Programme to Assess the Knowledge and Practices of Cancer Patients Regarding Radiotherapy Induced Skin Reactions:A Quasi Experimental Study

Radiotherapy is undoubtedly a positive intervention for Cancer treatment but it also affects the normal cells of the body. During radiotherapy, patients experience minor to major skin reactions. Knowledge and practices regarding skin reactions are important for the cancer patients.

Objectives- To identify the knowledge and practices of cancer patients for management of Radiation induced skin reactions. To assess the correlation between knowledge and practices regarding skin reactions. To seek the relationship between knowledge and practices for management of Radiation induced skin reactions among cancer and association with selected variables.

Methodology- Research approaches adopted for the study was Quasi Experimental approach with pre-test and post test control group design. Purposive sampling technique was used to obtain data. The study was conducted from October 2015 to January 2016 at Radiotherapy unit, Safdarjung hospital, New Delhi. The sample size was 60.

Major findings- Structured teaching programme (STP) on management of Radiotherapy induced skin reactions was found an effective strategy for enhancing knowledge (t value-4.584^*) and improving practices (t value-4.694^*) of Cancer patients receiving Radiotherapy. There was statistically significant correlation (r value-0.3613^*) between knowledge and practices regarding management of skin reactions.

Conclusion- The knowledge and practices regarding radiotherapy induced skin reactions were insufficient among cancer patients and STP on management of Radiotherapy induced skin reactions was helpful in enhancing their knowledge and practices. Good practices will be helpful in prevention of possible skin reactions.