Evaluation of an oral care protocol on prevention and treatment of chemotherapy-induced oral mucositis in patients with hematological neoplasms / 中国实用护理杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To determine the effectiveness of an oral care protocol on prevention and treatment of chemotherapy-induced oral mucositis in patients with hematological neoplasms. Methods Totally 106 patients with hematological neoplasms undergoing therapies from March to October 2017 were enrolled. Patients who were included from March to June 2017 constituted the control group, others from July to October constituted the intervention group. Patients in control group received the regular care, while patients in intervention group received a 3-week period oral care protocol. The oral health status of the patients was recorded and compared between the two groups. Results On the 7th,14th, 21th day after chemotherapy, the oral mucositis level of I degree,Ⅱdegree,Ⅲdegree andⅣdegree of the intervention group were 11, 13, 17, 1 cases, 28, 16, 0, 0 cases, 9, 3, 0, 0 cases, which were lower than the control group whose degrees were 24, 18, 10, 2 cases, 21, 13, 12, 0 cases, 13, 9, 8, 0 cases, respectively. The difference between the two groups was statistically significant (Z=-2.177,-2.504,-2.113, P<0.05). On the 3th, 7th, 14th and 21th day after chemotherapy, the oral pain scores reported by patients in the intervention group were 2.00(2.50), 3.00(2.75), 2.50(2.00), 0.00 (1.00), which were lower than the control group whose scores, in contrast, were 3.00(4.00), 5.00(3.25), 5.50 (4.00), 2.00(3.25). The difference between the two groups was statistically significant (Z=-2.587,-3.326,-4.925,-3.217, P <0.05). The positive rate of microbial examination in the intervention group was 14.6％(7/48), which was lower than 36.2％(21/58) in the control group. The difference between the two groups was statistically significant(χ2=6.318, P<0.05). Conclusions The oral care protocol established and implemented based on evidence could effectively decrease the incidence of chemotherapy-induced oral mucositis, ease oral pain and reduce inflammation for patients with hematological neoplasms.