ABSTRACT
Background: Cirrhosis is a chronic and progressive disease that causes various complications for patients due to disturbance of the liver's usual function. Self-efficacy refers to an individual's belief in one's ability to perform the necessary behaviors to achieve one's goals. Self-management is also an important criterion for long-term change in behavior. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of self-management training on self-efficacy of patients suffering from liver cirrhosis
Methods: This randomized controlled clinical trial was conducted on 74 patients with liver cirrhosis randomly assigned to an intervention [receiving self-management training] and a control group [routine care] from 2012 to 2013. The data were collected in the transplantation center affiliated to Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. Self-management training was performed in six 90-minute sessions twice a week. Besides, the intervention group was followed up for a month via telephone. Levo self efficacy questionnaire was filled out by the patients before, immediately after, and one month after the intervention. Then, the data were entered into the SPSS statistical software [v. 16] and analyzed using independent t-test, Chi-square test, and repeated measures ANOVA
Result: At the beginning of the study, no statistically significant difference was found between the two groups regarding self-efficacy [P=0.18]. However, the total score of the questionnaire and those of all its dimensions significantly improved in the intervention group immediately and one month after training self-management skills [P<0.001]. The mean score of self-efficacy was 102.24 +/- 7.79 and 76.78 +/- 9.49 in the intervention and control groups, respectively. On the other hand, no statistically significant difference was observed in the control group's self-efficacy immediately and one month after the intervention [P=0.6]
Conclusion: The results showed that the self-management program resulted in improvement of self efficacy in the patients with liver cirrhosis. Therefore, this supportive strategy could be useful in patients with chronic illnesses for improvement of care and prevention of complications
ABSTRACT
Background: Stomatitis is the most common complication of chemotherapy. This study aimed to assess the effect of aloe vera solution on stomatitis and its pain intensity in patients undergoing chemotherapeutic procedures
Methods: In this randomized controlled clinical trial, 64 patients with Acute Myeloid Leukemia and Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia undergoing chemotherapy were randomly divided into a control and an intervention group. The intervention group patients were asked to wash their mouths with 5 ml of aloe vera solution for two minutes three times a day for 14 days. The control group patients, however, used only the ordinary mouthwashes recommended in hematologic centers. The patients' mouths were examined by two assistants on days 1, 3, 5, 7, and 14. The intensity of stomatitis was recorded according to WHO stomatitis intensity checklists and pain was evaluated using Visual Analog Scale. The data were analyzed by SPSS statistical software, version 18
Results: The results showed that aloe vera solution mouthwash significantly reduced the intensity of stomatitis and its pain in the intervention group compared to the control group. On the first day, no significant difference was found between the two groups regarding the mean intensity of stomatitis [P=0.178] and pain [P=0.154]. However, a significant difference was observed between the two groups in this regard on other days [days 3-14: P=0.001 for stomatitis intensity, P=0.001 for pain]
Conclusions: Aloe vera solution can improve the patients' nutritional status, reduce stomatitis and its pain intensity, and increase the patients' satisfaction
Subject(s)
Humans , Male , Female , Adult , Middle Aged , Aged , Stomatitis , Antineoplastic Agents , Lymphoma , LeukemiaABSTRACT
Advances in treatment and critical care have largely improved the survival following burns; therefore, the importance of quality of life in burn patients is an issue beyond question. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of Orem self-care program on Quality of Life of burn patients. A randomized clinical trial study was conducted on 110 eligible burn patients who were selected using easy sampling method and allocated randomly into two groups of experiment and control. The instrument for data collection was a questionnaire, containing demographic and burn information and burn-specific health scale-brief [BSHS-B] questionnaire. For the experiment group, 5 sessions of theoretical training and 75-90 minutes of practical training were accomplished. The quality of life of the patients with burns was assessed in three phases by the BSHS-B questionnaire. The data were analyzed in SPSS-17 using Chi-square test, Fisher's exact test, Independent t-test and repeated measurement multivariate test. After one month and two months of the use of self-care model, the quality of life of the cases improved from 73.33% to 83.78% and 98.12%, respectively [P<0.001]. But the changes in the quality of life of the patients in the control group were not statistically significant [P>0.05]. Based on the obtained results of this study, designing and implementing a self-care program based on Orem's model and the needs of burn patients will improve their quality of life. Therefore, it is recommended that this program should be considered as a part of treatment program for these patients.