Background:In recent years, the caregiving responsibilities of cancer patients’ family members have increased dramatically. Reducing caregiver strain and burden supports the mission of professional nursing.Objectives:The aim of this study was to determine and compare the caregiver strain index scores of breast cancer informal caregivers, before and after a patient-caregiver educational and telephone follow-up program.Patients and Methods:This is an experimental two-group design study. Participants were recruited from an outpatient chemotherapy unit of the largest hematology and oncology research center in Northwest Iran. Thirty patient-caregiver pairs were randomly allocated to intervention and control groups. The intervention group received 2 face-to-face education sessions at bedside and 4 subsequent telephone follow-up sessions. The control group received routine care. Pre and post tests were administered in both groups pre and post intervention. To analyze the data, SPSS (13th version) software was used.Results:The caregiver strain index decreased significantly in the intervention group after the patient-caregiver education and follow-up (P < 0.001), while the control group’s scores did not change (P = 0.04).Conclusions:It appears that the patient-caregiver education and follow-up program had a beneficial effect on the caregiver strain index compared to the usual care.

Background: Self-efficacy refers to an individual's belief in his or her capacity to execute behaviors necessary to produce specific achievement. Past studies have shown probable increases in self-efficacy with growing age. Iranian women with breast cancer are one decade younger than their western counterparts. Objectives: The present study aims to investigate the level of cancer-related self-efficacy in Iranian women, and its demographic and medical predictors. Patients and Methods: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study comprised of 91 breast cancer patients referring for chemotherapy to one of the largest oncology centers in northwest of Iran. The patients' demographic and medical characteristics were determined and their cancer related self-efficacy was assessed using cancer behavior inventory containing 33 items. Data analysis was completed using SPSS software version 13. Descriptive and Regression analysis were used to describe demographic and medical characteristics of the patients and their predictors of cancer-related self-efficacy. Results: The sustained cancer-related positive attitude had, in total, the highest mean score of 7 subscales of cancer behavior inventory and the seeking of social support had the least mean score. Only Patient's education and the time of cancer diagnosis were associated with self-efficacy of Iranian women in relation to cancer. Conclusions: According to the results obtained, it is necessary to consider the level of education, social support, and the time of cancer diagnosis in order to assess the self-efficacy in Iranian women with breast cancer.

Context:Fear of cancer recurrence (FOCR) is one of the most important psychological problems among cancer patients. In extensive review of related literature there were no articles on FOCR among Iranian cancer patients.Aim:The aim of present study was to investigation FOCR and its predictive factors among Iranian cancer patients.Materials and Methods:In this descriptive-correlational study 129 cancer patients participated. For data collection, the demographic checklist and short form of fear of progression questionnaire was used. Logistic regression was used to determine predictive factors of FOCR.Result:Mean score of FOCR among participants was 44.8 and about 50% of them had high level of FOCR. The most important worries of participants were about their family and the future of their children and their lesser worries were about the physical symptoms and fear of physical damage because of cancer treatments. Also, women, breast cancer patient, and patients with lower level of education have more FOCR.Discussion:There is immediate need for supportive care program designed for Iranian cancer patients aimed at decreasing their FOCR. Especially, breast cancer patients and the patient with low educational level need more attention.