Published Paper Details:

Oral mucositis is a common, debilitating symptom affecting many patients on high-dose chemotherapy. It has been shown to affect 5-15% of patients undergoing cancer treatment in general, but with certain agents such as 5-florouracil (5FU), the rates are much higher, approaching 40-50%. Statement of the Problem: A study to assess the effectiveness of ice cube application in reducing oral mucositis among chemotherapy receiving patients in selected hospital at kanyakumari district. Objectives: To assess the level of oral mucositis before the application of ice cubes among chemotherapy receiving patients with cancer. To assess the level of oral mucositis after the application of ice cubes among chemotherapy receiving patients with cancer. Methodology:This study adopts quasi experimental design with pretest and post test control group design. Data was collected from 40 samples by simple random technique. The tool used for data collection include: Selected demographic variables, World Health Organization (WHO) scale gradings. All tools were validated and subjected to reliability testing. Pilot study was conducted to find out the feasibility of the study. The tool was administered and data was collected for 6 weeks from 40 samples and the data obtained were classified, grouped and analyzed based on the objectives and hypotheses formulated for the study using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: In experimental group 35% of sample subjects had normal and mild oral mucositis, 20% had moderate and 10% severe erythema, were as in control group 40% of sample subjects had extreme oral mucositis, 30% had severe, 20% had moderate and 10% had mild erythema. The mean oral mucositis score in experimental group (1.0) was greater than the mean oral mucositis score of the control group (0.8). The mean difference was (0.2) and was significant at (P<0.001) level. Conclusion: The study findings revealed that, there was a high significance in reduction of oral mucositis among chemotherapy receiving patients after application of ice cubes in experimental group than control group. Thus ice cube application played an important role in reducing oral mucositis among chemotherapy receiving patients.