The effects of a video-based education in women with newly diagnosed breast cancer in Singapore.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of an educational video among women who were newly diagnosed with breast cancer on knowledge, anxiety, and satisfaction with their surgical decision.

METHODS: A pre-post-test design was used to evaluate knowledge, anxiety, and satisfaction levels with decision-making regarding surgery among women with breast cancer. A purposive sampling strategy was implemented to compare outcomes of newly diagnosed breast cancer women who received standard of care that included breast care nurse counseling sessions and written materials to women who received standard of care plus a supplement educational video. Knowledge and anxiety scores were collected at baseline and 2 weeks post-operatively. Satisfaction with decision (SWD) on the nature of surgery was gathered 2 weeks after surgery.

RESULTS: Sixty-two subjects were recruited in a Singapore tertiary cancer center with a cohort of 32 women in the non-video group and 30 women in the video group. There was a statistically significant interaction effect of group and time (p = .008), wherein knowledge increased for both groups, although the increase was steeper for the video group. Both groups had significantly lower anxiety at post-implementation compared to pre-implementation (p < .001). There were no differences in SWD scores in both groups.

CONCLUSIONS: Use of an additional video-based education significantly increased breast cancer knowledge levels among women in the educational video group. Nurses and healthcare professionals should focus on identifying individual informational needs based on surgical options to provide personalize care and transfer the necessary knowledge in empowering woman's decision-making process on her nature of breast surgery.