Support Care Cancer. 2025 Jun 10;33(7):563. doi: 10.1007/s00520-025-09595-3.
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Most cancer patients live more than 5 years after thier diagnosis and many of them rely on their informal caregivers. The survival of cancer patients depends on their caregivers’ competence, mood, and general health. Meeting the needs of these patients is also very important.
AIM: This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of a supportive care program on the mood, general health, competence, and supportive care needs of caregivers of cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.
MATERIAL AND METHOD: A double-blind randomized controlled trial was conducted at the Chemotherapy Center of Pymanie Hospital in Jahrom, Iran, from July 28th to October 30th, 2023. Simple random sampling was utilized to determine participants, who were then randomly assigned to experimental (30) and control (30) groups using a Random Number Generator version 2. Participants in the experimental group received the supportive care program in addition to routine care. Data gathering was done using the «Supportive Care Needs,» «Profile of Mood States,» «General Health,» and «Caregiver Competence Scale» at baseline (T0), immediately after the intervention (T1), and 1 month post-intervention (T2). Additionally, the Supportive Care Needs questionnaire was filled out by patients at T0, T1, and T2. Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS 16.0. Repeated Measurement test, chi-square test, Friedman test, Mann-Whitney, and Independent T-test were used.
RESULTS: The average scores for Mood States, General Health, Caregiver Competence, and Supportive Care Needs in the control and intervention groups at T1 were (129.26 ± 11.11, 76.18 ± 14.06), (45.16 ± 9.55, 23.63 ± 8.69), (1.32 ± 0.198, 2.67 ± 0.422), (79.33 ± 9.97, 39.12 ± 7.24) and at T2 (145.37 ± 24.65, 91.35 ± 18.80), (61.78 ± 16.91, 27.12 ± 6.49), (1.47 ± 0.317, 2.41 ± 0.331), and (84.13 ± 11.67, 43.76 ± 8.24) respectively. There was a statistically significant difference between the groups (p = 0.003, p = 0.022), (p = 0.001, p = 0.001), (p = 0.76, p = 0.001), (p = 0.041, p = 0.001).
CONCLUSION: The results of this study revealed that the supportive care program was effective in mood states, general health, competence of caregivers, and grade of supportive care needs of cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.
TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinical trial registration number: (IRCT20230128057252N1) https://en.irct.ir/trial/69729 , date of registration: (2023-07-08).
PMID:40493212 | DOI:10.1007/s00520-025-09595-3
