Are patient education and self-care advantageous for patients with head and neck cancer? A feasibility study.

It was a feasibility study with 64 patients, so it cannot prove whether the intervention works. Randomisation was by alternation, and allocation concealment and blinding were not possible, raising a risk of confounding. Both groups received SMS monitoring, weekly follow-up, nurse contact, and usual care, so the added education and self-care cannot be separated from that attention. Baseline pain was relatively low, which may have created a floor effect and limited room for improvement. The sleep satisfaction result was a single secondary item and could be a random finding. Treatment fidelity was not assessed, so it is unclear how consistently the education and self-care were delivered. Non-participants were older and declined because of poor health, so the sample may not include patients most affected by head and neck cancer.

Do not conclude that education and self-care improve pain or quality of life because sleep satisfaction was better at week 10. The primary pain outcomes showed no significant group differences, and the authors say this single sleep item could be a random finding.