Development of a Nursing Intervention to Manage Fear of Recurrence Among Survivors of Breast Cancer

<p>Purpose: Fear of cancer recurrence is common among survivors after treatment, and higher fear of cancer recurrence affects quality of life and well-being. However effective nursing interventions have not been identified. This study aimed to develop a complex nursing intervention for managing fear of cancer recurrence among breast cancer survivors and to investigate its effectiveness.</p><p>Methods: In this single-arm study, the breast cancer survivors attended a five-week program to promote stress management and symptom management and to adopt healthy behaviors. This comprised three support-group sessions and two one-to-one counseling sessions. The primary outcome was fear of cancer recurrence; secondary outcomes included quality of life and coping. Participants’ status was examined pre-intervention (T1), immediately post-intervention (T2), and three months post-intervention (T3).</p><p>Results: Twenty-two breast cancer survivors with fear of cancer recurrence from two outpatient facilities participated in the study. Fear of cancer recurrence significantly improved at T3 compared to T1; quality of life significantly improved at T2 and T3. No significant improvement was observed in coping scores.</p><p>Conclusions: The study showed positive results in breast cancer survivors' fear of recurrence and quality of life, suggesting that the complex nursing intervention program developed in this study may be useful in helping breast cancer survivors manage their fear of recurrence. Further studies are required to verify the intervention’s effectiveness.</p>