To explore the effect of empowerment education (music oxygen bars) on postoperative anxiety and positive psychology in breast cancer patients.

According to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, totally 124 patients who underwent modified radical mastectomy in the Department of Breast Surgery, the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University from April 2017 to January 2019 were enrolled for a prospective study. The patients were randomly divided into control group and observation group using random number table method. Sixty-four patients in the observation group received postoperative rehabilitation of group counseling through music oxygen bars online or in clinic under the guidance of the empowerment education theory. In the control group, 60 patients received bedside one-on-one postoperative rehabilitation guided by the trained nurses. After discharge, the recovery of both groups was monitored and rehabilitation counseling was given. The Hamilton Anxiety Scale and positive psychological questionnaires (the Mental Health Continuum-Short Form) were distributed by a trained nurse (college graduate) before intervention (on the first day after surgery) and 3 months after intervention (3 months after surgery) to evaluate postoperative anxiety and positive psychology (emotional well-being, social well-being and psychological well-being). The scores were compared between the two groups using two independent-sample t test, and the scores before and after intervention in the same group were compared using the paired t test.

Before intervention, the anxiety score showed no significant difference between the observation group and the control group (25.48±4.92 vs 26.62±4.19, t=-1.377, P=0.171). Compared with pre-intervention value, the anxiety scores of both groups were decreased significantly three months after intervention (observation group: 25.48±4.92 vs 23.69±3.26, t=2.437, P=0.016; control group: 26.62±4.19 vs 24.98±3.90, t=1.999, P=0.048), while the anxiety score of the observation group was significantly lower than that of the control group(t=-2.011, P=0.047). In addition, before intervention, the total score of positive psychology and scores of emotional well-being, social well-being and psychological well-being were 25.00±9.35, 5.00±1.79, 9.13±3.56 and 10.88±4.53 in the observation group, 25.90±6.35, 5.62±1.94, 9.03±3.56 and 11.25±4.53 in the control group, indicating no significant difference (t=-0.623, -1.84, 0.143, -0.461, P=0.535, 0.068, 0.886, 0.646). Three months after intervention, the total score of positive psychology and scores of emotional well-being, social well-being and psychological well-being were 29.77±6.23, 5.83±1.40, 10.66±2.56 and 13.28±3.57 in the observation group, 29.72±5.19, 6.32±1.72, 10.40±3.07 and 13.00±3.47 in the control group, which indicated a significant increment compared with pre-intervention values (observation group: t=-3.394, -2.916, -2.794, -3.341, P=0.001, 0.004, 0.006, 0.001; control group: t=- 3.606, -2.090, -2.252, -2.373, P=0.001, 0.039, 0.026, 0.019), but there was no statistically significant difference between the two groups (t=-0.047, -1.739, 0.506, 0.444, P=0.962, 0.085, 0.614, 0.658).

Empowerment education (music oxygen bars) and group counseling can relieve postoperative anxiety and promote positive psychology in breast cancer patients, worthy of clinical research and application.