The Effects of Nurse-Led Supportive Care Program on Quality of Life in Women with Breast Cancer Receiving Adjuvant Chemotherapy: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Study

Objectives: This study was to evaluate the effects of nurse -led supportive care program on quality of life in women with breast cancer receiving adjuvant chemotherapy. Methods: The study was carried out a parallel group randomized controlled pilot study with repeated -measures design in general surgery unit of a training and research hospital. Forty-two women with newly diagnosed breast cancer were randomly assigned to the intervention and control groups. The intervention group received nurse -led supportive care program for 8 weeks, 4 weeks in face-to-face sessions and 4 weeks through phone sessions. The control group received only routine treatment. The women in both groups completed the EORTC-QLQ-C30 (version 3.0) Quality of Life questionnaires at baseline and ninth week. Results: There was a signi ficant increase in the mean global health status and functional status scores of the women with breast cancer in the intervention group compared to the women in the control group in the ninth week compared to the baseline. The women in the intervention group had a lower mean symptom status score in the ninth week than the women in the control group and there was a statistically signi ficant difference in the change in the mean scores of the groups over time. Conclusions: Our nurse -led supportive care program is an effective, safe and acceptable method to support women with BC receiving adjuvant chemotherapy. Implications for Nursing Practice: The nurse -led supportive care program can be used as a reliable and effective nursing intervention to increase the quality of life of women breast cancer receiving adjuvant chemotherapy. Clinical Trial Registration: NCT05399160. (c) 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.