Effect of comprehensive nursing intervention on oral comfort in nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients undergoing radiotherapy

Abstract

Objective To explore the effect of comprehensive nursing intervention on oral comfort in nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients undergoing radiotherapy .Methods Ninety-eight patients undergoing radiotherapy from December 2011 to June 2012 were chosen , and the control group including 50 patients who had undergone radiotherapy 30 times on the sixth week received the routing nursing interventions;95 patients undergoing radiotherapy from July 2012 to December 2012 were chosen , and the observation group including 50 patients who had undergone radiotherapy 30 times on the sixth week received the comprehensive nursing interventions .The self rating symptoms including dry mouth , sore throat , taste change and oral comfort level were compared in two groups .Results The cases of grade 0,Ⅰ,Ⅱ,Ⅲ,Ⅳradioactive oral mucositis in patients were respectively 7,15,20,8,0 cases in the observation group , and were respectively 1,6,29,13,1 cases in the control group, and the difference was statistically significant （Z=-2.872, P＜0.05）.The difference was found in the level of oral comfort in two groups （P＜0.01）.Conclusions Comprehensive nursing intervention can reduce the symptoms including dry mouth , sore throat, taste change in the patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma radiotherapy , decrease the incidence of radioactive oral mucositis , and improve the level of oral comfort in patients . Key words: Nasopharyngeal neoplasms; Radiotherapy; Comprehensive nursing intervention; Comfort