BACKROUND
Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among women in the world. Worldwide, there are approximately 2.1 million (2,088,849) newly diagnosed breast cancer cases in 2018, and about one in four cancer cases among women is breast cancer 1, 2. Of the women with breast cancer, approximately two out of three are hormone receptor- positive (ER + and / or PgR +) 3. EHT is recommended for women with hormone receptor positive (ER + and / or PgR +) and to use Tamoxifen or Aromatase Inhibitor (AI) hormonal agents for at least five years 3-5. EHT causes problems such as hot flashes and/or night sweats, headaches, nausea, pain, vaginal dryness, or discharge 3. Although the effectiveness of EHT approach has been proven, these common side effects are not life threatening but can negatively affect the quality of life5, 6. EHT side effects can affect the physical, emotional, and social well-being of patients 6. Oncology nurses should undertake the tasks of developing skills and providing emotional support by effectively communicating with patients, and providing adequate knowledge and training to improve the QOL of women with breast cancer 7.
Mobile health (mHealth) is a widely accessible method that provides healthcare services through portable devices 8. In the management of cancer patients, the development of new eHealth and mHealth initiatives has been reported to be promising, especially in the context of supportive care and follow-up 9. These applications are important for oncology nurses to be aware10. It has been shown that the use of mHealth practices in health care management of women with breast cancer has positive effects. It also emphasizes that mHealth practices can play an important role in the care of women with breast cancer8.
Many studies were aimed to assess mHealth apps and their impact on quality of life of women with breast cancer 11- 15. Zhu et al. studied the effectiveness of the mobile application-based breast cancer e-support program to support women with breast cancer who received chemotherapy 12, 13. They found that mobile application intervention is more effective in increasing self-efficacy and QOL and reducing symptom burden during chemotherapy13. Given the physical limitations in accessing healthcare or geographic distance, it has been reported that individuals use mobile applications as an additional intervention11. In a systematic review, in breast cancer care and addressed prevention and survivorship mHealth practices have been shown to have an effect on controlling weight, improving QOL and reducing stress levels 8. However, the effectiveness of mobile application was not found significant when compared with routine care in terms of social support, symptom severity, anxiety, and depression among patients receiving breast cancer treatment 13. In Foley et al., it was determined that training materials about surgical treatments including mobile information application had an alarming effect on the anxiety levels of women with breast cancer in the preoperative period 16.
To our knowledge, there is no standardized mobile app for the management of patients receiving EHT, possible side effects, symptom management, and QOL and requirements regarding follow and supportive care. The purpose of this study to find the effect of mobile app-based training on the QOL in women with breast cancer using EHT.
The hypotheses for the study is:
H1: Mobile training influences the quality of life of women with breast cancer.