Effect of nursing intervention on eliminating radiology induced oral mucositis in head and neck cancer patients

ABSTRACT

Oral health is often affected by medical conditions and some cancer treatments. This is often underreported, undiagnosed as problematic and inadequately treated. The study aimed to portray the effect of nursing interventions on eliminating radiology induced oral mucositis in Head and Neck Cancer Patients. The study was conducted in Mansoura Main University Hospital, Medical Oncology Department. A convenient sample of sixty adult head and neck cancer patients were randomly assigned to a study [A] and control groups [B] of 30 patients each. Oral care intervention protocol has been designed and used to reduce the incidence and duration of oral mucositis [OM] in the study group. The study results revealed improvement in oral health status in the 7th day of observations in the study group after oral care intervention. There were nearly equal alterations in both groups in the 1st day of observation [36.66%with mild and 63.33% with severe alterations in study group and 33.33% of mild and 66.66% of severe alterations in the control group respectively. Moreover; there was no significant differences among both groups prior to oral care interventions performed to the study group in the 1st day, [p = 0.79]. However, on the 4th day of observation, there were significant differences among both groups [p = 0.3]. Patients in oral care intervention group showed an improvement on the 7th day. According to the results observed, professional and home oral hygiene should be used and adhered also evidence-based clinical practice guidelines presented as a benchmark for nurses to use for routine care for appropriate patients and as a springboard to challenge clinical investigators to conduct high quality trials in oral hygiene and oral care .Nursing management must take an integrated approach as well; nursing care research must be conducted to achieve high quality nursing management of mucositis and other oral complications