Breast Cancer: Targets and Therapy (May 2021)
Effectiveness of Psycho-Education Intervention Programme on Coping Strategies Among Jordanian Women Diagnosed with Breast Cancer: A Randomised Controlled Trial
Abstract
Murad Younis,1– 3 Bachok Norsa’adah,1 Azizah Othman4 1Unit of Biostatistics & Research Methodology, School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kota Bharu, 16150, Kelantan, Malaysia; 2Assistant Medical Science Department, Community College, University of Tabuk, Tabuk, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; 3Radiation Oncology Department, Al-Bashir Hospital, 261 Amman, The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan; 4Department of Pediatrics, School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kota Bharu, 16150, Kota Bharu, Kelantan, MalaysiaCorrespondence: Murad Younis; Bachok Norsa’adahUnit of Biostatistics & Research Methodology, School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kubang Kerian, Kota Bharu, 16150, Kelantan, MalaysiaEmail [email protected]; [email protected]: This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of a psycho-education intervention programme in improving the coping strategies of Jordanian breast cancer patients.Methods: A double-blinded randomised control trial involving 200 participants between the ages of 20 to 65 years old breast cancer patients was performed. Apart from those who refused participation, patients with chronic diseases and extreme baseline depression scores were also excluded. The control group received standard care twice a week from the social welfare services team facilitator compared to the intervention group that received additional psycho-education intervention programme (PEIP). The coping strategies were measured using the Brief-COPE inventory consisting of 28 items. It was administered on the second and 12th week of trial. The primary end point was compared between pre- and post-intervention. The effect of the intervention between groups, time, and covariates was measured using the generalised linear mixed model (GLMM) analysis.Results: The mean (SD) of adaptive coping score among the intervention group increased from 5.63 (1.3) at baseline to 6.42 (1.3) at post-intervention. The mean avoidant coping score was 3.87 (1.1) at baseline but reduced to 3.69 (0.8) post-intervention. GLMM showed that women who received the intervention reported significantly higher usage of the adaptive coping strategies after attending the programme (B=0.921, p < 0.001).Conclusion: PEIP significantly improved knowledge of breast cancer patients. Thus, this programme may be considered as a part of the healthcare services in Jordan towards improving the adaptive coping strategies among breast cancer patients, which may point towards the potential for these services to increase adaptive coping strategies among patients in Jordan.Implications for Public Health: PEIP may be considered as psychosocial intervention in public health and healthcare setting to address rising concerns on quality of care among breast cancer patients.Keywords: randomised controlled trial, health education, breast cancer, adaptive coping, avoidant coping, psycho-education intervention programme
