Effects of ‘timing It Right’ on Comprehensive Unmet Needs and Psychological Pain in Radiotherapy Patients: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract Purpose To explore the effects of ‘Timing It Right’ on the comprehensive unmet needs and psychological pain of patients receiving radiotherapy.Design A prospective randomized controlled trial.Methods A randomized controlled trial was conducted, and 140 patients receiving radiotherapy were randomly divided into two groups, with 70 cases in the intervention group and 70 cases in the control group. The intervention group received routine care follow-up and a comprehensive nursing mode intervention based on ‘Timing It Right’, while the control group received routine care and follow-up. The comprehensive needs and psychological pain of radiotherapy patients before intervention, at discharge, 3 months after discharge, and 6 months after discharge were compared.Results A total of 137 patients completed the study. At discharge, 3 months after discharge, and 6 months after discharge, information needs (z=3.369,6.240,6.440, p＜0.01), health and psychological problems (z=2.185, 3.200, 3.380, p＜0.05), health care staff (z=2.829, 4.518, 4.708, p＜0.01), physical symptoms (z=4.167, 5.742, 5.742, p＜0.01), health facilities and services (z=2.829, 4.304, 4.630, p＜0.01), religious/spiritual support (z=2.296, 3.470, 3.470, p＜0.05) of the TIR group were improved compared with the control group. Psychological pain (z=2.115, 2.329, 2.411, p＜0.05) of the TIR group was significantly less than that of the control group. Information needs, health care staff, physical symptoms, health facilities and services differed significantly at points in time, groups, and interactions. In addition to practical support, the remaining indicators of both groups differed significantly at different observation points.Conclusions TIR had positive effects on meeting the needs of radiotherapy patients and improving their psychological pain, therefore supporting TIR’s use as an effective psychological management and intervention strategy in the early stages of long-term rehabilitation of radiotherapy patients.