Practice, Effectiveness and Factors Affecting Self-care Behaviors in Managing Chemotherapy Side effects in Breast Cancer Patients

Background: and Rationale: Chemotherapy is one of the main treatment modalities for breast cancer, however, it has many side effects. Good patients’ self-care practice to manage and cope with chemotherapy side effects can help the patients to alleviate the severity of these side effects, and improve their quality of life. This study was conducted to assess the practice of self-care behaviors among breast cancer patients receiving chemotherapy at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), Cairo University (CU), and their effectiveness in alleviating the chemotherapy side effects, as well as detecting factors influencing self-care practice. Patients and Methods: This is an observational cross sectional study that included adult females (> 18 years), who received at least 2 chemotherapy cycles, as outpatients at NCI. A convenience sample of 178 patients was recruited. Personal interviews and revising medical records were performed to collect the relevant data. Results: : The mean age of the patients was 47.76 ± 10.5 years. The majority of the study participants were married (88.8%) and residents of urban areas (61.2%). 32.6% of them were illiterate. The overall self-care practice was 48%. Age, stage of the disease and number of experienced side effects had significant effects on the self-care behavior. Conclusion: Breast cancer patients show moderate level of self-care behavior in managing chemotherapy side effects. This highlights the need for engaging the patients into their own management by providing adequate education, and encouraging them to practice proper self-care behaviors.