The Effects of a Comprehensive Education Program on Knowledge, Self-Efficacy, and Coping Style among Newly Diagnosed Patients with Breast Cancer

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to identify the effect of a comprehensive education program on knowledge, self-efficacy for self-management, and coping style among newly diagnosed patients with breast cancer. Methods: This study used a one group pretest-posttest design. Data were collected from April to September, 2010 at a cancer-specific hospital in Goyang, Korea. One hundred forty three women received a comprehensive education program consisting of 3 sessions composed of 8 themes was conducted by several experts (nurses, doctors, dietitians and clinical psychologists) for 3.5 hours a day for 3 days (1 day before and 2 days after the operation). Results: This study showed that knowledge and self-efficacy for self-management significantly increased after education (p<.001). In terms of coping style, however, only the subscale, ‘anxious preoccupation’, significantly improved (p=.001) among 5 sub-scales of coping style after education. Conclusion: A comprehensive education program for newly diagnosed patients with breast cancer was effective for increasing the knowledge and self-efficacy for self-management of breast cancer, in addition to decreasing the coping style of ‘anxious preoccupation’. However, it did not improve other coping style. Therefore, other strategies for improving coping style are needed.