Abstract: Objective: To explore the effect of continuing follow-up empowerment education on the rehabilitation of outpatients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma radiotherapy. Methods: The outpatients with radiotherapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma who met the inclusion criteria from January to June 2018 in our hospital were enrolled as the control group (n=50). The routine health education was provided during radiotherapy. The outpatients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma radiotherapy who met the inclusion criteria from July to December 2018 were selected as intervention group (n=46). In the intervention group, on the basis of routine health education, the continued empowered education was performed during follow up clinic visits. Results: The incidence of radiation stomatitis and radiation skin injury in the intervention group was significantly lower than that in the control group (P<0.05). The compliance of functional exercise of head and neck was significantly higher in the intervention group than in the control group (P<0.05). Conclusion: The follow-up empowerment education for patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma radiotherapy can be effectively improved by setting up a specialist nursing clinic. It can effectively improve the self-efficacy of patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma radiotherapy and reduce the incidence of complications during radiotherapy, which has an important impact on the rehabilitation of patients.

Key words: nursing clinic; empowerment education; nasopharyngeal carcinoma radiotherapy; rehabilitation