The Effect of Educational Intervention on Care Dependency and Symptom Management After Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation: A Theory-Based Randomized Controlled Study

The objective of the research was to determine the effect of educational intervention based on Bandura’s Social Cognitive Learning Theory on care dependency and symptom management after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Methods. This randomized controlled trial was conducted between January 2019 and February 2020 at the Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation Center. All the patients were randomly divided into two groups: 53 individuals in the intervention group and 53 individuals in the control group. The sociodemographic data collection form, the Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale and the Care Dependency Scale were used for data collection. Data were collected from the patients one day after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and 12 weeks later. Results. There were no statistically significant differences between the groups regarding the mean scores of the Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale and the Care Dependency Scale at baseline. Twelve weeks after intervention, there were statistically significant differences between the groups regarding the mean scores of the Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale and the Care Dependency Scale. Conclusions. Educational intervention along with telephone counseling based on Bandura’s theory was found to be an effective way to reduce symptom severity and care dependency in patients who underwent hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and is recommended for all patients after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation