Subject(s)
Breast Neoplasms , Cancer Survivors , Social Conditions , Aged , Brazil , Breast Neoplasms/therapy , Female , Humans , Middle Aged , Multivariate Analysis , Quality of Life , Socioeconomic FactorsABSTRACT
Background: The study of body image includes the perception of women regarding the physical appearance of their own body. The objective of the present study was to verify the prevalence of body image dissatisfaction and its associated factors in women submitted to breast cancer treatment. Methods: A cross-sectional study carried out with 103 female residents of the municipality of Natal (Northeast Brazil), diagnosed with breast cancer who had undergone cancer treatment for at least 12 months prior to the study, and remained under clinical monitoring. The variable body image was measured through the validated Body Image Scale (BIS). Socioeconomic variables and clinical history were also collected through an individual interview with each participant. The Pearson's chi-squared test (Fisher's Exact) was utilized for bivariate analysis, calculating the prevalence ratio with 95% confidence interval. Poisson regression with robust variance was utilized for multivariate analysis. The statistical significance considered was 0.05. Results: The prevalence of body image dissatisfaction was 74.8% CI (65%-82%). Statistically significant associations were observed between body image and multi-professional follow-up (p=0.009) and return to employment after treatment (p=0.022). Conclusion: It was concluded that women who reported employment after cancer treatment presented more alterations in self-perception concerning their appearance. Patients who did not receive multi-professional follow-up reported negative body image, evidencing the need for strategies that increase and improve healthcare, aiming to meet the demands of this population.
Subject(s)
Body Image/psychology , Breast Neoplasms/psychology , Stress, Psychological , Survivors/psychology , Breast Neoplasms/pathology , Breast Neoplasms/therapy , Combined Modality Therapy , Cross-Sectional Studies , Female , Follow-Up Studies , Humans , Middle Aged , Prognosis , Quality of Life , Socioeconomic FactorsABSTRACT
The objective of the study presented herein was to verify the prevalence of functional disability and its associated factors in women submitted to breast cancer treatment. A cross-sectional study was carried out, in 101 women diagnosed with malignant breast cancer neoplasm, who underwent cancer treatment at least 12 months before the study, and remained under clinical monitoring. Functional disability was measured by the DASH instrument. Data collection included variables related to socioeconomic characteristics, life habits, health conditions, clinical tumor characteristics and therapeutic approach. Bivariate analysis was carried out by Pearson's chi-square test or Fisher's exact test, calculating the prevalence ratio with a 95% confidence interval. Multivariate analysis utilized Poisson's Regression with robust variance. A statistical significance of 0.05 was considered. Prevalence of functional disability in the studied sample was 22.8% (CI95% 13.9-31.6). Functional disability was statistically significantly associated with age (p = 0.035) and access to health services (p = 0.028). It was concluded that younger patients suffered higher impact of breast cancer treatment on disability. Regarding access to health services, women that received public clinical monitoring reported higher occurrences of functional disability. This pointed towards the necessity of more organized, less bureaucratic, and effective health services in the assistance network, directed to the minimization of the impacts of cancer treatment on health and life conditions of breast cancer survivors.
