Evaluation of the efficacy of nursing strategies to diminish fear among cancer patients. A case control study

Abstract

Cancer is a catastrophic illness that is responsible for a 10millions new cases, world wide. In Colombia, after homicidesand cardiovascular diseases, cancer is a major publichealth problem. Therefore, there is an incentive for nursesto intervene these patients, in order to get a substantial reductionof their natural fear for cancer treatment. We made acase controlled study to evaluated the variance of “control ofpatient’s fear” label scale. Patients were randomly assignedinto two groups: the experimental group, got the interventionsrecommended by the nursing process classifi cation; theother one, got the usual interventions provided by the nursesservices. We compare both results using the co-variancemethod. We found a difference of 0.75 (IC 95% 0.40-1.10)points in favor of the intervened group. Nursing interventionsamong cancer patients diminish their fear for treatment, areeffi cacious and well recommended.

Keywords

• fear
• cancer
• nursing process
• case-contro study