Qualitative Study of Health Information -Seeking Barriers among Mastectomy Patients.

BACKGROUND: Health information-seeking behavior (HISB) plays a key role in self-care management, promoting quality of life and improving health. However, some individual and contextual barriers hinder women undergoing mastectomy access to needed information. Identifying and removing health information-seeking barriers for these women undergoing mastectomy can lead to improving their health outcomes. Therefore, the aim of this study was to identify the health information-seeking barriers for women with breast cancer after mastectomy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a conventional qualitative content analysis in which the participants were selected through purposive sampling based on the study inclusion criteria from two hospitals of Shahid Mohammadi and Persian Gulf and Chemotherapy Center of Omid in Bandar Abbas. The study population consisted of 17 women with breast cancer after mastectomy. Data were collected through semi-structured face-to-face interviews. RESULTS: Seven main themes were introduced as three individual barriers, including fear, shame and embarrassment and inadequate health literacy and four contextual barriers of economic status, physicians and medical staff, lack of accessibility of information sources and the behavior of those around them that were the underlying factors to explain the barriers of health information seeking in mastectomized women. CONCLUSION: The results of this study emphasize the need for further attention from Iranian authorities to health care, especially women' health care institutions, to reform the health system and remove their health information -seeking barriers.
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Using information sources by breast cancer women treated with mastectomy.

BACKGROUND: Awareness of sources of information of mastectomy patients has an important role in accessibility of reliable health information sources, thus, when they get information, they can be effective in the treatment and self-care. The present study aimed to identify the sources of information used by women underwent mastectomy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The current practical research methodology was qualitative, and research method was conventional qualitative content analysis was performed on 17 patients with breast cancer undergone mastectomy. The sample targeted two hospitals were selected based on criteria of Shaeid Mohammadi and the Persian Gulf and Omid Central chemotherapy in Babdar Abbas. Data were collected by face-to-face semi-structured interviews were conducted in winter 2015. Qualitative content analysis of data was performed at the same time of data collection. RESULTS: Three themes were seemed (medical, interpersonal, and media) sources for explaining the sources of information searching. Subcategories derived from the content of medical (physicians, surgeons, and health workers of health facility centers), interpersonal sources (Family and friends, peers), and media sources (printed, electronic, and Internet). CONCLUSION: Given the importance of information on women underwent mastectomy, and their priority in the use of medical sources, necessitates more attention of health system managers and planners in providing essential information and their accessibility.

Impact of Health Information Prescription on Self-care of Women with Breast Cancer.

BACKGROUND: Women with breast cancer experience various challenges. Prescription of health information provides appropriate information at appropriate time to the appropriate person and plays a role in empowering self-care and improving health. The current research aims to evaluate the effect of health information prescription on self-care power of women with breast cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This semi-experimental quantitative study was done using pretest and posttest method in one group of 61 women with breast cancer selected from the Women's Cancer Center of Khatamolanbia Hospital using purposive sampling method. Data were collected by an author-made self-care questionnaire and patients' self-care score was calculated at the first visit (before health information prescription) and the second visit (after health information prescription). Data were analyzed using the SPSS version 23 software and analysis of variance at a statistical significance level of P < 0.05. RESULTS: Total mean score of self-care in women with breast cancer was 40.97 and 115.3 before and after health information prescription, respectively. Increase of mean was observed in all subscales of self-care score from pretest to posttest so that change in posttest was higher in subscales of effective implementation of treatment and prevention from disabilities and personal functioning regulation (39.44), specialized knowledge on breast cancer (30.46), searching medical services and cooperation with treatment group (28.59), and awareness and attention to impacts and results of breast cancer (16.81). CONCLUSION: Health information prescription improves self-care power of women with breast cancer, and it is necessary to provide health information services in order to support women's self-care by the health authorities.