Detail Cantuman

Introduction: Chemotherapy shows high effectiveness, but also has
side effects, including mucositis. Mucositis can cause pain, difficulty
sleeping, eating disorders, mood, and activity, which has implications
for the quality of life of children. Objective: The purpose of this study
was to identify the incidence of mucositis and the factors that influence
the incidence of mucositis in cancerous children receiving
chemotherapy treatment. Methods: This research method is
descriptive correlational analysis with a cross-sectional design. A
consecutive sampling technique was used to establish respondents as
research samples to get 60 respondents. Data were analyzed
univariately and bivariate. Bivariate analysis was performed with the
Chi-square test and independent t-test to see differences in the average
values of mucositis before and after chemotherapy. Results: The
results showed that almost all cancer children who received
chemotherapy experienced 53 people (88.3%) and a small portion,
seven people (11.7%) did not experience mucositis. There was a
significant difference in the mean value (p = 0,000) before and after
chemotherapy, with an increase in the average mucositis value of 3.12.
The research showed that there was a significant relationship (p
<0.05) between previous mucositis experience (p = 0,000), type of
cancer (p = 0.025), type of chemotherapy (p = 0.010), and duration of
therapy (p = 0.027) and the incidence of mucositis. Meanwhile,
nutritional status was not related to the incidence of mucositis (p =
0.077). Conclusion: Nurses as health workers who most often contact
with patients must be able to improve nursing care in cancer children
who get chemotherapy in minimizing the occurrence of mucositis by
conducting routine mucositis and oral care assessments.