The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of oral cryotherapy on oral mucositis, reactive oxygen series, inflammatory cytokines, and oral comfort in patients undergoing chemotherapy for gynecologic cancers.

Participants were randomly assigned to the experimental group (n=25, receiving oral cryotherapy during chemotherapy) and the control group (n=25, receiving the usual care consisting of 0.9% normal saline gargles three times before meals). Oral mucositis was assessed using the oral assessment guide, while oral comfort was assessed using the oral perception guide. Reactive oxygen series was measured as total oxidant stress, and the level of two inflammatory markers, interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), were examined. The data were analyzed using t-test, chi-square test, Fisher's exact test, Mann-Whitney U-test, and repeated measures analysis of variance.

There was a significant difference in the oral mucositis score, reactive oxygen series score, TNF-α level, and oral comfort score between the two groups, and there were significant changes over time and in the group-by-time interactions. There was a significant difference in the IL-6 score between the two groups, but there were no significant changes over time or in the group-by-time interactions.

The study results revealed that oral cryotherapy was more effective than the usual care regime of normal saline gargles for reducing oral mucositis, reactive oxygen series, and inflammatory cytokines and for improving oral comfort in gynecologic cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.

This study aimed to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of an adapted health literacy self-management intervention for elderly cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.

The intervention in this study was systematically developed through the six stages of Intervention Mapping Protocol and was based on Fransen et al's causal pathway model. A quasi-experimental trial was conducted on a total of 52 elderly patients (26 in an experimental group and 26 in a control group) undergoing chemotherapy in Korea. The intervention consisted of seven sessions over 5 weeks. The experimental tool for this study was an adapted health literacy self-management intervention, which was designed to promote a reduction in the symptom experience and distress of elderly cancer patients through the promotion of self-management behavior. To develop efficient educational materials, the participants’ health literacy was measured. To educate participants, clear communication and the teach-back method were used. In addition, for the improvement of self-efficacy, four sources were utilized. For the promotion of self-management behavior, five self-management skills were strengthened. Data were collected before and after the intervention from June 4 to September 14, 2018. The data were analyzed with SPSS/WIN 21.0.

Following the intervention, self-management knowledge and behavior and, self-efficacy significantly improved in experimental group. Symptom experience and distress decreased in the experimental group compared to the control group.

The self-management intervention presented in this study was found to be effective in increasing self-management knowledge and behavior and, self-efficacy, and ultimately in reducing symptom experience and distress for elderly patients undergoing chemotherapy.

This research was conducted to compare the effects of drug therapy, physical therapy, and exercise on pain, disability, and depression in patients with chronic low back pain.

The research design of this study was a nonequivalent control group pretest-posttest design. The subjects of this study were 28 patients for the drug therapy & physical therapy, 24 patients for the drug therapy & exercise, and 22 patients for the physical therapy & exercise. Data was collected by MVAS, Oswestry disability questionnaires, and questionnaires of depression. It was analyzed by paired t-test for effectiveness, ANOVA, and Scheffe for comparison of the effects of the 3 experimental treatments, using SPSS/WIN 12.0.

There were no effects of drug therapy & physical therapy on pain, disability, and depression. However, there were effects of drug therapy & exercise and the physical therapy & exercise on pain, disability, and depression. The effects of physical therapy & exercise on pain, disability, and depression were the greatest, but there was no statistically significant differences between the drug therapy & exercise and the physical therapy & exercise.

Exercise is regarded as a more effective and easily accessible nursing intervention to apply alone than drug therapy or physical therapy simultaneously in reducing pain, disability and depression.