The impact of family-synchronized empowerment education on the feelings of shame and quality of life of patients discharged with catheters following major surgery for cervical cancer

The study aims to evaluate the impact of family synchronized empowerment education on the sense of shame and quality of life in patients discharged with catheters following radical surgery for cervical cancer. The data of 92 patients who underwent radical cervical cancer surgery and were discharged with urinary catheters from October 2022 to October 2023 were retrospectively retrieved and assessed. Patients who had surgery from October 2022 to April 2023 comprised the control group, while those who had surgery from May 2023 to October 2023 formed the observation group, with 46 patients in each group. The control group received conventional health education, while the observation group received family synchronized empowerment education. The Social Influence Scale (SIS), Family Assessment Device (FAD), and Quality of Life Questionnaire-C30 (QLQ-C30) were used to assess patients’ sense of shame, family function and quality of life. Data on self-urination cases, urinary retention, catheter reset and urinary tract infection were collected during follow-up visits. The results showed that those from the observation group had statistically significant improvements in SIS score, FAD score, functional domain of QLQ-C30, symptom domain, six symptom scores, and overall health status score compared to the control group (p < 0.05). In addition, the observation group also had better outcomes in self-urination (p < 0.05), urine retention incidence, catheter reset rate, and urinary infection incidence (p < 0.05). Thus, family synchronized empowerment education may effectively reduce the sense of shame, enhance the quality of life for patients discharged with catheters and facilitate early catheter removal and resumption of self-urination.

Family synchronized empowerment education; Radical cervical cancer surgery; Indwelling urinary catheter; Stigma; Quality of life

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