Improving skin-tone inclusivity in patient information leaflets for radiotherapy skin reactions: a literature review.

Knight, S.; Macwan, S.

Introduction: Radiotherapy is a common treatment modality for cancer patients. Unfortunately, the treatment can result in skin reactions that may affect their quality of life and clinical outcomes. PILs can provide guidance on managing early symptoms and reduce unscheduled treatment breaks. Evaluating PILs is not frequently evidence-based, and research into evaluating PILs' inclusiveness for radiotherapy skin reactions does not exist. This study aims to contribute to the knowledge base to better serve the whole radiotherapy population. Methods: A constructivist methodology was developed to evaluate skin-tone inclusivity in the author's local PILs, and a literature review was conducted to assess the knowledge base and facilitate providing recommendations for improvement. Results: Publication, diagnostic, language and educational bias were identified in the literature. The content analysis found the author's departmental PILs were not inclusive of medium and dark-skinned patients. Conclusions: Further research into radiotherapy PILs inclusivity is warranted. The creation or amendments to existing radiotherapy skin reaction diagnostic tools are needed to cater for the whole population. Diverse educational resources are needed to contribute to the reduction of health inequalities faced by radiotherapy patients.

PATIENT education; PAMPHLETS; RADIOTHERAPY; T-test (Statistics); HUMAN skin color; SKIN care; CINAHL database; CONTENT analysis; CANCER patients; DESCRIPTIVE statistics; CONFIDENCE; SKIN; SYSTEMATIC reviews; MEDLINE; ANALYSIS of variance; ONLINE information services; TUMORS

Journal of Radiotherapy in Practice, 2025, Vol 23, Issue 4, p1

1460-3969

Academic Journal

10.1017/S1460396924000220