Cancer educational group intervention: impact on self-efficacy and anxiety among women recently diagnosed with breast cancer and undergoing surgery

Abstract

Aim: To investigate the impact of an educational group intervention on self-efficacy and anxiety among women recently diagnosed with breast cancer.Method: A quasi-experimental longitudinal design was used. Women diagnosed with breast cancer and undergoing surgery (n = 113) were recruited from a university teaching hospital in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. At pre-admission, the intervention group(n = 57) received a group 90-minute information session (paper documents, video and demonstration) led by a nurse and a physiotherapist, which included material handling and time for questions and discussion. The control group(n = 56) received the usual care. Self-reported questionnaires were filled out at the time of the announcement of surgery(T0), after the training(intervention or usual care, T1) and at the first post-operative follow-up(T2).Results: Quantitative analysis using a mixed model for repeated measures showed no significant differences between the experimental and control groups in terms of the training session (group vs. individual). A time effect was observed in both groups for self-care and anxiety. In addition, several positive changes weremade in the clinical settings to optimize oncology healthcare.Conclusions: Future research would explore whether these findings reflect actual clinical practices or are more dependent on the specific cancer diagnosis.