Development and evaluation of an uncertainty management program for mothers of children with newly diagnosed cancer in Bangladesh

Abstract

Purpose: This study aims to develop an uncertainty management program for mothers of children with newly diagnosed cancer and to evaluate the program’s effect of on maternal uncertainty, maternal coping, and maternal quality of life. Methods: A uncertainty management program (UMP) was developed based on “Mishel’s Theory of Uncertainty in Illness and needs assessment and the process included content validation, involving expert reviews, focus group interviews, measurement of reliability using Cronbach’s alpha, and repeated measures analyses of variance.” This Quasi-experimental study used a non-equivalent control group non-synchronized design. Participants recruited from a specialized hospital were assessed at prêt-test, post-test 1, and post-test 2. Seventy mothers of children with cancer were assigned into two groups (experimental group = 35, control group = 35). Results: The UMP consisted of four components including three face-to-face sessions conducted by the researcher, three consecutive days after baseline assessment. Repeated measures ANOVA showed significant main time effect, main group effect, and interaction effect by group and time on maternal uncertainty (F = 108.593, p < .001; F = 125.745, p < .001; F = 102.450, p < .001, respectively), maternal coping (F = 24.293, p < .001; F = 40.320, p < .001; and F = 6.781, p < .002, respectively), and maternal quality of life (F = 45.561, p < .001; F = 154.822, p < .001; and F = 43.685, p < .001, respectively). Conclusion: This study has implications relating to the applicability of the theory of uncertainty in illness for the future development of interventions designed to decrease illness uncertainty including bio-behavioral outcome in other populations with different circumstances. Key words: uncertainty, coping, quality of life, cancer, children, mothers, intervention.