A meta-synthesis of women's symptoms experience and breast cancer

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to examine the symptom experience of women with breast cancer using meta-synthesis. Women with breast cancer may experience many symptoms resulting from the primary disease and/or treatment of the disease. It is very important the overall symptom experience from the patients' perspective is captured and understood by health professionals. The question developed was 'What is the symptom experience of women with breast cancer from time of diagnosis to completion of treatment'. The meta-synthesis process as developed by Sandelowski and Barroso was used to collect and analyse the data. The overarching idea emerging from this meta-synthesis is that the symptoms experience for women with breast cancer has effects on the very 'self' of the individual. Emerging is women's need to consider the existential issues that they face while simultaneously dealing with a multitude of physical and psychological symptoms. This meta-synthesis develops a new, integrated, and more complete interpretation of findings on the symptom experience of women with breast cancer. The results offer the clinician a greater understanding in depth and breadth than the findings from individual studies on symptom experiences.

A companionship between strangers – the hospital environment as a challenge in patient–patient interaction in oncology wards

“…From the patients' perspective, the acceptance of environmental conditions was connected to their experience of loss of control. Previous studies have stated that loss of control among people with cancer was associated with loss of personal autonomy in decision‐making (Denieffe & Gooney ), ability to cope with environmental features (Vaartio et al . ) and inability to influence one's own situation (Saarnio et al .…”

“…In studies of hospitalized people with cancer challenges concerning personal control were frequently associated with the hospital environment (Vaartio et al . , Denieffe & Gooney , Rotegard et al . , Saarnio et al .…”

Experiences of Turkish Women with Breast Cancer During the Treatment Process and Facilitating Coping Factors

“…These findings are similar to the findings the literature. It has been indicated that cancer diagnosis and treatment cause the following psychological problems in women with breast cancer: anxiety, depression, anger, uncertainty about the future, fear of cancer recurrence, body image distortion, fear of losing female identity (Doumit et al, 2010;Denieffe and Gooney, 2011;Cebeci et al, 2012). In the literature, uncertainty and fear of recurrence are stated to be the most challenging experiences that women with breast cancer have in the process of diagnosis and treatment of the disease (Landmark et al, 2001;Doumit et al, 2010;Elmir et al, 2010).…”

An Original Research about: The Associations of Depression and Fatigue with Quality of Life among Palestinian Patients with Cancer

“…About 66% of patients with breast cancer suffer from fatigue after diagnosis and extends beyond treatment end [23]. Fatigue is a multidimensional symptom that affects various aspects of life for patients with cancer [24]. A study found a moderate effect of fatigue among patients with breast cancer and significant correlations among fatigue, depression and body image [25].…”