A comparison of the effect of video and written self-care education on anxiety in patients with upper gastrointestinal cancer undergoing chemotherapy

Background & Aim: Anxiety is one of the most common complications in cancer patients that can affect the physical and mental health of patients and disrupt the treatment process. For this reason, cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy need education about the disease and ways to cope with its complications and problems. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of video and written training methods on anxiety in patients with gastric and esophageal cancer undergoing outpatient chemotherapy. Methods & Materials: This study is a randomized clinical trial that was conducted on 58 patients with gastric and esophageal cancer who underwent outpatient chemotherapy in Shariati and Imam Khomeini hospitals in Tehran. Participants were randomly assigned to either the video training group (n=28) or the written training group (n=30). Data was collected using the Spielberger State Anxiety Inventory (STAI), at the beginning of the study and then weekly for 12 weeks. The SPSS software version 20 was used to analyze the data. Results: The results showed that the level of anxiety in both groups was significantly lower compared to before the intervention (P<0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in the anxiety mean score between the video group (56.07±9.85) and the written group (56.40±8.13) after the intervention (P=0.89). Conclusion: In general, the results of this study showed that self-care education using video and written methods reduces the anxiety of cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy and both methods can be effective in reducing patients' anxiety. Clinical trial registry: IRCT20181115041669N1