A multimodal cancer rehabilitation programme promoting sense of coherence for women treated for female reproductive cancers: a pilot randomised controlled trial.

Purpose: To investigate the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effects of a theory-driven multimodal cancer rehabilitation intervention (MCRI) programme among Hong Kong Chinese women treated for female reproductive cancers (FRC).

Methods: A single-blinded randomised controlled trial was conducted in two regional hospitals in Hong Kong involving 35 women treated for FRC. The intervention group (n = 18) received a 12-week MCRI which included 30 modules of app-based health education and three nurse-led individual counselling sessions. The control group (n = 17) received attention from the research nurse through telephone calls. Sense of coherence, health-related quality of life, and cancer-specific distress were measured at baseline (T0), immediately after completion of the intervention (T1) and 12 weeks post-intervention (T2). Twelve intervention completers were interviewed to explore the acceptability of the programme.

Results: Recruitment, consent, and retention rates, counselling session attendance rate, and app usage were satisfactory. The intervention participants reported to have significant improvement in physical well-being at T1 (Cohen's d effect size (d) = 1.04, 95% CI 0.24, 1.83), sense of coherence (d = 0.76, 95% CI - 0.03, 1.54), and cancer-specific distress (d = 1.03, 95% CI - 1.83, - 0.21) at T2. Interviewed participants acknowledged the benefits of the programme and provided comments for improvement.

Conclusions: The MCRI is found to be feasible and acceptable and may improve their sense of coherence, distress, and physical health. A full-scale trial using a larger and more representative sample is warranted to confirm the effects of the programme.

Implications For Cancer Survivors: Women treated for FRC may be benefited from the MCRI in improving sense of coherence, physical well-being, and distress.

Trial Registration: This trial was registered on ISRCTN registry with ID ISRCTN73177277.