The effectiveness of lymphedema self-management in the prevention of breast cancer-related lymphedema and quality of life: A randomized controlled trial

Purpose: The aim of our randomized controlled study is to determine the effect of lymphedema self-management in the prevention of breast cancer-related lymphedema and quality of life.

Method: Sixty-one breast cancer patients were included in the study. In the intervention group, patients were provided training and given a training booklet describing "exercise, massage and prevention methods" by the researchers, as part of the Self-Management of Lymphedema Program. Patients were followed by telephone for 6 months and through monthly clinical check-ups. Patients in the intervention and control groups were evaluated in both the pre-operative and post-operative periods (at one, three and six months) using the "DASH", "Measurement of Upper Extremity", " EORTC QLQ-30 and BR-23 questionnaire". The Mann Whitney U test, the Kruskal-Wallis H test, the Wilcoxon test, and the Friedman test were used for the statistical analysis of the data.

Results: At the end of the study, while lymphedema development was not observed in the intervention group, 61.2% of the control patients developed lymphedema. The difference between the intervention and control groups for the development of lymphedema was found to be statistically significant (χ2 = 25,943; p = 0,000). The quality of life of the intervention group was higher than that of the control group. Moreover, the symptom scores of the intervention group were found to be significantly lower than those of the control group.

Conclusions: As a result of our research, it can be concluded that the Self-Management of Lymphedema Program is effective at preventing lymphedema development following breast cancer treatment.