Effects of dependent care theory-based post-surgical home care intervention on self-care, symptoms, and caregiver burden in patients with primary brain tumor and their caregivers: a randomized controlled trial

Purpose This study aimed to examine the effect of dependent care theory-based post-surgical home care intervention on self-care, symptoms, and caregiver burden in primary brain tumor patients and their caregivers. Methods A parallel-group randomized controlled trial was conducted with patients who underwent surgery for a primary brain tumor between March 2019 and January 2020 in a tertiary hospital and with caregivers who cared for them at home. Eligible patients and caregivers were determined by block randomization. Outcome measures included validated measures of self-care agency (Self-Care Agency Scale), symptoms and interference by symptoms (MD Anderson Symptom Inventory Brain Tumor-Turkish Form), and caregiver burden (Caregiver Burden Scale). Two-way analysis of variance was used in repeated measurements from general linear models compared to scale scores. Results Self-care agency was significantly higher in the intervention group than in the control group in the first and sixth months after surgery ( p