The Effectiveness of a Nursing Care Program Supplemented with Iron Intake on Anemia and Fatigue in Cancer Patients Undergoing Chemotherapy

Abstract

Background: Fatigue is one of the most common complications of cancer. Anemia can be one of the most prevalent causes of fatigue in cancer patients. Objectives: The present study aimed to explore the effectiveness of a nursing care program supplemented with iron intake on the anemia and fatigue in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. Methods: The present study was conducted in a quasi-experimental design on two groups of 90 cancer patients in selected hospitals. The participants were selected via convenience sampling and were randomly assigned to the control and intervention groups. Before the intervention, the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy - Anemia (FACT-An) was completed by the patients in both groups. The patients in the control group did not receive any special care other than receiving 150 mg of iron daily. However, the patients in the intervention group received 150 mg of iron daily and attended a nursing care program with four individual training sessions (one session per week). Follow-up was performed for three weeks, and the questionnaire was completed again by the participants in both groups. The collected data were analyzed using the independent samples t-test, paired-samples t-test, and chi-square test in SPSS software (version 22). The data analysis process was performed at a significance level of less than 0.05. Results: The mean scores for the patient hemoglobin in the intervention and control groups after the intervention were 11.84 ± 0.58 and 11.10 ± 67.29, showing a significant increase in favor of the intervention group (P < 0.001). Furthermore, the results of the independent samples t-test showed that the mean score of fatigue for the patients in the intervention group (29.37 ± 9.56) was significantly lower than that of the participants in the control group (47.55 ± 11.22) (P < 0.001). Conclusions: The present study showed that the implementation of a nursing care program for cancer patients receiving iron supplementation positively affects iron-related blood parameters and fatigue among these patients. Therefore, to control cancer patients' fatigue, medical staff must pay special attention to these training and care programs supplemented with iron intake.