The Effect of Oral Care Program and Honey Mouthwash on the Quality of Life of Acute Myeloid Leukemia Patients Undergoing Chemotherapy: A Single Blind Clinical Trial Download PDF

Background and objective: the fact that cancer patients who have undergone various treatment methods have been able to survive for a longer amount of time has affected the quality of their lives. On the one hand, mucositis is one of the debilitating diseases which is followed by side effects caused by cancer treatment, eating disorders and verbal and nonverbal communications. Thus, the present study has aimed to compare the effect of honey mouthwash and oral care on the quality of lives of adult AML patients undergoing chemotherapy. Research method: in this research, which is a single blind clinical trial, 53 AML patients who were going through chemotherapy were selected and randomly divided into three groups: one control group (19 individuals) and two experimental groups, an oral care group (17 individuals) and honey mouthwash group (17 individuals). The quality of lives of patients was once measured before the beginning of the research and once at the end of the interventions using EORTC QLQ-C30.V.3 as a tool. Research data were analyzed by the SPSS software. Findings: in the honey mouthwash group, a statistically significant difference has been seen in the cognitive aspect (p=0.04), pain aspect (p=0.03) and overall quality of life of patients (p=0.005); in such a way that at the end of the intervention, the mean score of patients in the cognitive aspect had increased but their mean score in the pain aspect and overall quality of life of patients had decreased. In the control group, the statistical difference in the emotional aspect of quality of life has been significant (p=0.02); in such a way that at the end of the intervention, the mean score of patients in this aspect has been reduced. At the end of the study, the difference between the control group and the honey mouthwash groups in the pain aspect (p=0.034) and the overall quality of life of patients (p=0.024) was significant. Conclusion: given that the effectiveness of honey mouthwash on some of the aspects of quality of life and the fact that this mouthwash can easily been washed for oral care in patients receiving chemotherapy for preventing mucositis, eating disorder and verbal and nonverbal communications between these patients.