Background The development of oral anticancer drugs generates some risks related to the use of oral chemotherapy in the ambulatory treatment for cancer patients. For secure administration of these drugs, the patient needs to have knowledge of the use of the drug and the management of side effects. Therapeutic education of patients is considered one of the tools that allows good use of the drugs.

Purpose The aim of our study was to evaluate the knowledge of patients treated with oral chemotherapy, regarding their treatment and side effects, after educational sessions performed by a pharmacist.

Material and methods This was a prospective, descriptive study, conducted between March and July 2014. We organised educational sessions, lasting 30 min, for each patient, without charge, on good utilisation of the drugs and the manifested side effects. We elaborated the educational cards for patients and dispensing files for pharmacists. Two evaluations (T1 and T2) were performed after and before the educational sessions. Data were collected with a checklist and analysed by SPSS 13.0.

Results The study included 50 patients who benefited from these sessions; average age was 53 year old and the sex ratio (M/F) was 0.43

Comparing patient medication knowledge between T1 and T2, we observed an increment on all levels, among others information about treatment (T1, 72%; T2, 100%), dosage (T1, 92%; T2, 98%), medication administration time (T1, 88%; T2, 98%) and administration modalities (T1, 82%; T2, 96%).

Therapeutic patient education ensured the prevention of some side effects caused by antineoplastic drugs, by respecting the hygieno-dietetic rules and medications associated with cancer treatment. Hand-foot syndrome was the most common side effect (T1, 38%); it decreased by 12% in T2.

Conclusion Our educational approach demonstrated the interesting role of the hospital pharmacist in the development of knowledge, especially on administration modalities and management of side effects.

References and/or Acknowledgements

1. Tourette-Turgis C, Isnard-Bagnis C. Education thérapeutique. Néphrologie et thérapeutique, NEPHRO-633; 2013, p. 6

References and/or AcknowledgementsNo conflict of interest.