Introduction:

Bibliotherapy is defined as the use of books and other materials in a directed reading program.

Objective:

To evaluate the level of anxiety in surgical cancer patients treated with bibliotherapy.

Methods:

A quasi-experimental study was carried out in cancer patients, at the María Curie Provincial Teaching Hospital of Oncology, from January 2022 to January 2023. The universe consisted of 200 patients and a simple random sample of 60, divided into two groups of 30 patients each, experimental group and conventional group. In the immediate preoperative period and immediate postoperative period, bibliotherapy was applied to the patient in reading modality. Anxiety was assessed with the Anxiety Inventory: Trait-State.

Results:

The average age for both groups was similar, 56.32 years in the experimental group and 54.61 in the conventional group. Patients from 50 to 59 years and 60 to 69 years predominated, with 33.9 % and 32.3 % of the cases. The absence of difference in the level of preoperative anxiety in the groups was observed, an average experimental group of 48.16 and the conventional group 49.00. The groups show a high level of anxiety. The level of postoperative anxiety was different in the treatment groups, thus in the experimental group the average of 24.74 expresses a low level, while in the conventional group 49.55 remains high. Conclusions: Bibliotherapy constituted an interdisciplinary therapeutic tool in cancer patients. Pain was identified as a focal word that allowed the development of the literary action plan.

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