effect of self-care education via telenursing on health behaviors in cancer patients

Background: morbidity and mortality from coronavirus are more likely in vulnerable groups, such as cancer patients. implementing self-care education for prevention in these patients is a priority. this study aimed to investigate the effect of telenursing education on self-care behaviors that prevent covid-19 in cancer patients. methods: this interventional study was conducted at vasei sabzevar hospital on patients with various types of cancer undergoing chemotherapy and radiation therapy in 2020 coinciding with the second peak of covid-19, for one month (30 minutes daily). two-stage sampling was conducted in the intervention group (31 participants) and the control group (26 participants). self-care and patient follow-up training on the prevention of covid-19 were conducted through whatsapp. data were collected using a researcher-made self-care questionnaire, a demographic questionnaire, and a medical information form. results: the mean age of the participants was 58.24±13.27 years, with the majority being female (n=35; 61%). breast cancer was the most common cancer among the studied subjects (n=24; 42.1%). in the intervention group, the mean score of self-care before the intervention was 21.65±8.72 and after the intervention, it was 36.76±3.14. the results of the independent t-test showed a significant difference between the two groups (p<0.001). fisher’s exact test did not indicate a significant difference between the two groups in terms of covid-19 morbidity (p=0.118). conclusion: the results of the present study showed that telenursing education improves self-care behaviors in the prevention of coronavirus in cancer patients.