The Effect of Oral Self-Care Promoting Program Combined with Virgin Coconut Oil Pulling on Oral Mucositis in Head and Neck Cancer Patients Receiving Radiotherapy or Concurrent Chemo-Radiotherapy

Abstract

The purpose of this quasi-experimental research was to examine the effects of oral self-care promoting program combined with coconut oil pulling on oral mucositis in head and neck cancer patients receiving radiotherapy or concurrent chemo-radiotherapy. The sample consisted of 30 head and neck cancer patients being treated with radiotherapy or radio-chemotherapy at the radiology department of a tertiary hospital in Suratthani province. The subjects were recruited by a purposive sampling based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. They were divided into two groups. The first 15 patients were in the control group receiving standard treatment. The later 15 patients were in the experimental group receiving an oral self-care promoting program combined with coconut oil pulling. The oral self- care promoting program combined with coconut oil pulling consisted of four strategies: a) interactive nursing care, b) didactic information, c) selfcare skill training, and d) supportive care. Also, coconut oil pulling was used in this group. The data were then recorded in the personal information form, and oral mucositis assessment form with inter-rater reliability 0.95. The data were analyzed using ANCOVA. The finding was that after the program, the experimental group displayed a significantly lower average score ( x- ¯ = 0.10, S.D) for mucositis than did the control group ( x- ¯ = 0.55, S.D= 0.13), F = 137.38, p < 0.01).