Head and neck cancer are among the most debilitating malignancies because they affect basic functions such as breathing, speaking, and eating. The majority of patients receiving radiation therapy to the head and neck are treated as outpatients every day for up to 6 weeks. Physical and psychological side effects of treatment include mucositis, xerostomia, loss of taste, dysphagia, anorexia, nutrition alteration, skin reactions, fatigue, anxiety and depression. These reactions severely limit normal life and may lead to drop out of treatment program, patients may return later with more advanced and/or incurable stage of the disease. Thus, the purposes of the study were to: 1) construct and implement a teaching program for cancer patients receiving external radiation therapy, 2) investigate the impact of a designed teaching program on anxiety level and satisfaction with care among cancer patients receiving external radiation therapy, and 3) validate the effectiveness of the designed teaching program. A quasi-experimental time series design was utilized to compare level of anxiety and satisfaction between patients before, during and after receiving the teaching program. The sample was composed of 60 adult male and female divided into 2 groups, 30 patients each. Each group was assigned randomly to a line of management. The control group received the routine hospital care, while the study group received the constructed teaching program on individual basis. Data were collected using a sociodemographic data sheet, the State-trait Anxiety Inventory, and the Patient Confidence and Patient Satisfaction with Care Scale. The results revealed that, no statistical significant correlations were found between sociodemographic characteristics and anxiety state after treatment in both the study and control groups, also there were no statistically significant differences detected between the anxiety state scores for the study and control groups before during and after treatment. In conclusion, head and neck cancer patients who received the teaching program rated their anxiety the same as those not receiving the program, but they rated their satisfaction with received help, information, medical care and nursing care higher than those not receiving the program. It is recommended that radiotherapy departments should be staffed by trained oncology nurses or radiographers to provide information and support for patients, a training program for nurses is needed to cover nursing and medical treatment for head and neck cancer patients, psychological reactions, coping strategies and crisis interventions. Also, further research is recommended to investigate anxiety one month after completion of treatment with continuing follow-up strategies focusing on psychological aspects.
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