The effect of education given to women diagnosed with breast cancer to prevent oral mucositis on quality of life

Background and Aim: This randomised controlled study was planned to investigate the effect of education given to women diagnosed with breast cancer to prevent oral mucositis on quality of life. Material and Methods: This study was conducted with 85 breast cancer patients (43 experimental and 42 control) who were being treated in the outpatient chemotherapy unit of an oncology hospital between February and August 2023. Data were collected using the Patient Information Form, WHO Oral Toxicity Criteria, Oral Assessment Guide, EORTC QLQ-C30 Quality of Life Scale, and ECOG Performance Scale. The findings were evaluated using SPSS 26.0 programme. Data were analysed using Mann-Whitney U test, Kruskal-Wallis test, bonferroni post hoc test, Wilcoxon signed-rank test. p<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The mean age of the patients was 57.08±10.97 years and it was determined that the patients in the experimental and control groups had similar characteristics in terms of personal, disease and treatment-related characteristics. In the experimental group, there was a significant regression in the stage of oral mucositis and improvement in oral health after the training (p<0.05). On the 21st day, it was found that the mean general health score of the experimental group and the mean scores related to quality of life including physical function, role function, emotional function, cognitive and social function, which are the sub-dimensions of the function score, increased statistically significantly compared to the control group; the mean symptom score including fatigue, anorexia, nausea-vomiting, dyspnoea and insomnia decreased significantly in the experimental group, while fatigue and insomnia increased significantly in the control group (p<0.05). Conclusion: It was found that the education given to women receiving chemotherapy for breast cancer to prevent oral mucositis decreased the severity of oral mucositis and increased the quality of life. It is recommended that nurses should provide education to patients in order to manage oral mucositis and improve quality of life.