Effect of self-care ability assessment on rehabilitation of patients after breast cancer operation

Abstract

Objective To investigate the effect of self-care ability assessment on rehabilitation of patients after breast cancer operation. Methods A total of 84 patients after breast cancer operation were randomly divided into observation group and control group on average. Patients in the control group were given conventional nursing care after operation. Based on it, patients in the observation group were given self-care ability assessment, which guided life care and functional exercise of affected limb. The scores of compliance of functional exercise, the length of stay, the total cost of hospitalization and the activity of affected shoulder were compared in the two groups. Results The scores of physical exercise dimension, post-operative notes dimension, initiative to seek advice dimension and total score of the compliance scale in the observation group were (29.8±5.5), (18.7±1.1), (13.8±1.2), (62.3±6.8) , which were significantly higher than those of the control group (t=3.802, 5.340, 8.574, 6.292, respectively; P<0.05). The length of stay and the total cost of hospitalization in the observation group were also significantly higher than these of the control group [(14.1±0.7) days vs (23 635.4±2 011.7) yuan] (t=6.959, 3.333, respectively; P<0.05). Three months after operation, the activity of flexion, abduction, extension, internal rotation and external rotation of the affected shoulder of the observation group were (157.86±16.83)°, (152.37±23.15)°, (48.18±5.39)°, (62.33±6.80)°, which were significantly higher than the control group(t=3.939, 3.207, 4.254, 6.267, 3.879, respectively; P<0.05). Conclusions Self-care ability assessment can improve the functional exercise compliance of patients after breast cancer operation, reduce the length of hospitalization and economic pressure. It is beneficial to the recovery of affected upper limb function as well. Key words: Breast cancer; Self-care ability assessment; Functional exercise