Linfedema entre mulheres submetidas a tratamento de câncer de mama em um hospital de Belo Horizonte – MG / The development of lymphedema among women undergoing treatment for breast cancer treated at the oncology clinic of a hospital in Belo Horizonte

Introdução: Uma das frequentes sequelas e a que mais interfere na vida da mulher em tratamento para câncer de mama é o linfedema. Este efeito colateral pode ter seu início durante qualquer fase do tratamento para câncer de mama, apesar de geralmente não oferecer risco de vida, ameaça a qualidade de vida da sobrevivente por causar deformidade estética, desconforto físico e perda da habilidade funcional. Estudos mostram que a educação para prevenção e controle do linfedema entre sobreviventes de câncer de mama é importante para melhorar a funcionalidade e promover qualidade de vida. Para que o desenvolvimento do linfedema seja prevenido e controlado, é importante que a mulher possua conhecimentos básicos sobre esta sequela. Objetivo geral: Analisar o desenvolvimento de linfedema entre mulheres submetidas a tratamento de câncer de mama atendidas em ambulatório de oncologia de um hospital de Belo Horizonte. Material e Método: Trata-se de um estudo quantitativo, seccional. Foi desenvolvido no ambulatório de oncologia de um hospital de Belo Horizonte, onde 125 mulheres, em tratamento para câncer de mama, foram entrevistadas durante consulta de segmento ou previamente a administração de quimioterápicos, utilizando-se de questionários traduzidos e adaptados da língua inglesa. Foi realizada consulta ao prontuário para coleta de dados referentes a história clínica da paciente. Resultados: 34,4% das mulheres tinham diagnóstico de linfedema, com média de idade de 53,3 ± 10 anos, casadas, com menos de quatro anos de estudo e renda familiar entre um e três salários mínimos. A prevalência de linfedema no período do estudo foi de 34,4%. O nível de conhecimento sobre linfedema e como preveni-lo foi considerado baixo e somente 69,6% das pacientes relatam haver recebido orientação acerca de como prevenir o linfedema, sendo o enfermeiro pouco envolvido nesse processo. Conclusão: Entende-se como essencial a atuação do enfermeiro como educador, uma vez que receber orientação...

Introduction: One of the most frequent sequelae, and the one that interferes the most in the life of women treating for cancer is the lymphedema. This side effect may have its onset during any phase of breast cancer treatment; although, in general, it isn't life-threatening. However, it may decrease survivor’s life quality due to aesthetics deformities, physical discomfort and loss of functional ability. Studies indicate that educating breast cancer survivors about how to prevent and control lymphedema is important to improve the functionality and to promote life quality. To prevent and control the lymphedema progression it is important that the woman has the basic knowledge about this sequela. General objective: Studying the development of lymphedema among women undergoing treatment for breast cancer treated at the oncology clinic of a hospital in Belo Horizonte. Materials and Methods: This is a quantitative, sectional study. It was accomplished in the oncology ambulatory of a large hospital in Belo Horizonte, in which 125 women, in breast cancer treatment, were interviewed at the time of the medical follow-up appointment or before the chemotherapeutics administration. The interviews were conducted using questionnaires translated and adapted from English. Also, the medical records were consulted to collect data related to the patient's clinical history. Results: 34.4% of women were diagnosed with lymphedema, with an average age of 53.3 ± 10 years old, married, with less than four years of education and family income from one to three minimum wages. The prevalence of lymphedema in the study period was 34,4%.The knowledge level about lymphedema and how to prevent it was considered low and only 69.6% of patients report having received orientation about how to prevent lymphedema, being the nurses not very involved in this process. Conclusion: It is understood as essential the role of the nurse as an educator, since receiving orientation was...

Impacto dos marcadores socioeconômicos na gravidade do linfedema das extremidades inferiores / Impact of socioeconomic markers in severity of lower extremity lymphedema Marcadores na gravidade do linfedema das extremidades inferiores

No Brasil, a incidência do linfedema é pouco conhecida e poucas são as documentações científicas reportando a associação do linfedema com os fatores sociais e econômicos na nossa região. O objetivo do estudo foi analisar o impacto dos marcadores socioeconômicos na gravidade do linfedema das extremidades inferiores conforme a classificação de Mowlem, na região metropolitana de Salvador (BA). Dos 324 pacientes estudados, 200 (62 por cento) eram do gênero feminino. A idade variou entre 14 e 69 anos, com mediana de 48 anos. Analisando comparativamente as variáveis: gravidade do linfedema versus grau de escolaridade e gravidade versus renda familiar, observou-se que 93,8 por cento dos pacientes classificados como Mowlem III estavam incluídos no grupo dos pacientes sem escolaridade e/ou com renda familiar de até três salários-mínimos. Não houve registro de doença avançada em pacientes com renda familiar acima de sete salários-mínimos e/ou com terceiro grau completo.

In Brazil, the incidence of lymphedema is poorly known, and there is little scientific documentation reporting the association of lymphedema with the social and economic factors in our region. The objective was to analyze the impact of socioeconomic markers on the severity of lymphedema of the lower extremities according to the classification of Mowlem in the metropolitan region of Salvador (BA), Brazil. Of the 324 patients studied, 200 (62 percent) were female. The age ranged between 14 and 69 years, median 48 years. Comparatively analyzing the varying severity of lymphedema versus education level and severity versus family income, it showed that 93.8 percent of patients classified as Mowlem III were included in the group of patients without education and/or with income up to three minimum wages. There was no record of advanced disease in patients with family incomes greater than seven minimum wages and/or graduate.

Qualidade de vida e câncer de mama: uma comparação entre mulheres com e sem linfedema / Quality of life and breast cancer: a comparison between women with and without lymphedema

No Brasil, o câncer de mama é a segunda localização de câncer mais incidente na população feminina. Nos últimos anos, tem aumentado a sobrevida livre de doença, despertando o interesse em investigar a qualidade de vida de pacientes tratadas. O objetivo deste estudo é avaliar a qualidade de vida em uma coorte de mulheres submetidas a tratamento cirúrgico para câncer de mama, para verificar possíveis diferenças derivadas do desenvolvimento de linfedema de membro superior. A população de estudo foi constituída por 549 mulheres oriundas de uma coorte constituída em 2001, para estudar a incidência de linfedema. Todas as participantes realizaram exame físico com fisioterapeuta, para caracterização da presença de linfedema. A definição dos casos de linfedema teve como base a perimetria dos membros superiores. As participantes foram entrevistadas para coleta de dados sócio-demográficos, sendo aplicado o questionário de qualidade de vida EORTC QLQ C-30 e o módulo BR-23. Informações sobre as características do tratamento e demais variáveis clínicas foram obtidas nos prontuários médicos. Os escores de qualidade de vida das pacientes foram agregados e transformados em valores em uma escala de 0 a 100 pontos. Para cada item do questionário foram calculadas medidas de tendência central e dispersão. Foram verificadas possíveis diferenças de qualidade de vida entre mulheres com e sem linfedema...

In Brazil, breast cancer is the second most common cancer among women. In recent years, there has been an increase in progression-free survival of the disease, raising interest in the quality of life of patients treated for it. The objective of this study was to evaluate the quality of life in a cohort of women who received surgical treatment for breast cancer in order to verify any possible differences arising from the development of lymphedema of the upper extremities. The study population consisted of 549 women from a cohort formed in 2001 for the purpose of studying the incidence of lymphedema. All participants underwent a physical exam with a physiotherapist to check for the presence of lymphedema. The perimetry of the upper extremities was used as a base for defining cases of lymphedema. Participants were interviewed to collect socio-demographic data, using the EORTC QLQ C-30 questionnaire about quality of life and the BR-23 module. Information about the type of treatment and other clinical variables was obtained from medical records. The quality of life scores of the patients were aggregated and transformed into values on a 0–100 point scale. Measures of central tendency and dispersion were calculated for each item on the questionnaire. Possible differences between the quality of life for women with and without lymphedema were verified. Prevalence ratios were used to explore the magnitude of associations between the different variables, and differences in the average scores for the individual questions between women with and without this pathology were analyzed. The average global quality of life was 75.2 points, with a median of 75.0; for women with lymphedema, these values were 72.4 and 86.7, respectively. Additional studies are needed that use instruments oriented towards the social life of the patients, since this seems to be one of the principal areas in which they experience problems with quality of life.

Comparison of quality of life, satisfaction with surgery and shoulder-arm morbidity in breast cancer survivors submitted to breast-conserving therapy or mastectomy followed by immediate breast reconstruction

OBJECTIVES: This study was designed to compare the prevalence of shoulder-arm morbidity, patient satisfaction with surgery and the quality of life of women submitted to breast-conserving therapy or modified radical mastectomy and immediate breast reconstruction . METHODS: This study was a cross-sectional study of women who underwent breast-conserving therapy (n=44) or modified radical mastectomy and immediate breast reconstruction (n=26). Quality of life was evaluated with the SF-36 Health Survey Questionnaire. RESULTS: No differences were found in the prevalence of lymphedema. The movements that were most commonly affected by these procedures were abduction, flexion and external rotation. When the two groups were compared, however, we only found a statistically significant difference for the prevalence of restricted internal rotation, which occurred in 32 percent of women in the breast-conserving therapy group and 12 percent of those in the modified radical mastectomy and immediate breast reconstruction group (OR: 7.23; p=0.03 following adjustment for potential confounding factors). No difference in quality of life or satisfaction with surgery was found between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that the type of surgery did not affect the occurrence of lymphedema. Breast-conserving therapy, however, increased the risk of shoulder movement limitation. No differences were found between the two surgical techniques with respect to quality of life or satisfaction with surgery.

Linfedema posmastectomia / Postmastectomy lymphedema

Se realiza una revisión bibliográfica del linfedema posmastectomia. Se dan a conocer los factores linfedematógenos, o sea los factores que pueden desencadenar un edema crónico de los miembros superiores después de la resección de la mama por cáncer. La historia natural de esta enfermedad nos muestra a través del tiempo datos como las cifras de las incidencias, que a su vez son índice de la evolución de las técnicas quirúrgicas y de los tratameintos que para el cáncer de mama se han llevado a cabo. Entre los métodos diagnósticos para el linfedema tenemos los métodos no invasivos y los métodos invasivos, ambos corroboran el diagnóstico y complementan la estrategia médico-quirúrgica. Las medidas profilacticas comienzan desde el momento mismo de la mastectomía con la realización de una técnica establecida al efecto y al terminar la operación, se inicia la etapa de la rehabilitación. Esta etapa se caracteriza por las recomendaciones y los ejercicios que realizan las pacientes mastectomizadas para evitar el edema. A las que se les desarrolla un edema crónico, según los resultados de los estudios, se les somete a un tratamiento que puede ser tanto médico como quirúrgico. El tratamiento médico consiste en fisioterapia, tanto evacuativa como para reestablecer la funcionabilidad de la articulación del miembro, además de medicamentos asociados al mismo. El tratameinto quirúrgico abarca desde las técnicas exeréticas, las funcionales y las combinaciones entre éstas, hasta las más desarrolladas técnicas microquirúrgicas

Comparison of knowledge on filariasis and epidemiologic factors between infected and uninfected respondents in a Malay community.

A study to identify the knowledge of infected and uninfected respondents on filariasis and epidemiologic factors in one endemic community in Malaysia to determine their role in the transmission and control of filariasis was carried out. The data were collected by non-participant observations and interviews using semi-structured schedules. The majority of respondents in both groups had knowledge of filariasis. There was no marked difference between male and female respondents, and similarly, there was fair distributions of knowledgeable respondents with and without some years of schooling. On filarial transmission, 9.2% of the infected said that filariasis was contacted through mosquito bites, while among the uninfected it was 7.4%. Within the infected, 14.8% thought that filarial worms entered the human body through the consumption of unhygenically prepared foods and drinks while, among the uninfected it was 20.4%. Both groups were aware of the presence of mosquitoes in their village. However, the majority did not associate this factor with host's susceptibility to filarial infections. Rather, they were of the opinion that personal hygiene and proper meals had something to do with filariasis. The findings showed there was general awareness of filariasis in the community which might indicate that the health campaigns had reached various levels of the population. Yet, they still lacked knowledge on disease transmission. Also, they did not make direct association between environment and exposure to mosquitoes bites though they were aware of their presence but which they regarded as not directly harmful to their health.