Anticipating an altered appearance: Women undergoing chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer

Frith, Hannah; Harcourt, Diana; Fussell, Anna

doi:10.1016/j.ejon.2007.03.002

Cited by 85 publications

(78 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…Previous studies have reported that patients who were well informed about alopecia adjusted and coped with it better than those who were not (Frith et al, 2007). McGarvey et al conducted a pilot study with a computer-imaging program to prepare women for alopecia and found that patients who saw images of baldness and wigs on a computer screen in advance had significant lower alopecia distress than patients who did not (McGarvey et al, 2001).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perception, Attitudes, Preparedness and Experience of Chemotherapy-Induced Alopecia among Breast Cancer Patients: a Qualitative Study

Kim

Cho²,

Choi³

et al. 2012

Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention

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Objectives: Regardless of its negative impact on quality of life, little is known about the importance of alopecia from the patients' perspective. This study aimed to explore the whole experience of chemotherapyinduced alopecia among Korean breast cancer patients including perception, attitudes, preparedness, and changes after alopecia. Methods: Patients expected to experience or had experienced alopecia were recruited at a tertiary hospital in Seoul, Korea. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were performed in 21 patients. Recurrent issues were identified and placed into thematic categories. Results: All patients think that appearance is important and they pay attention to how they look like. They had negative perceptions about alopecia. Patients were not well prepared for alopecia, and experienced substantial physical, psychological and social distress. Lack of information and limited social support combined with negative images of cancer made it difficult for patients to overcome the trauma and deterred them from usual daily activities resulting in poor quality of life. Conclusions: Patients were not well prepared for alopecia and negative perceptions, lack of preparedness, and limited social support and resources increased alopeciarelated distress. Educational programs for preparing patients to cope with alopecia distress and advocate activities to change people's negative perception about alopecia are needed to reduce the burden imposed by alopecia in cancer patients.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perception, Attitudes, Preparedness and Experience of Chemotherapy-Induced Alopecia among Breast Cancer Patients: a Qualitative Study

Kim

Cho²,

Choi³

et al. 2012

Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention

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“…Women with breast cancer experience a variety of side effects that alter their physical appearance: loss or disfigurement of breasts, discolored skin, alopecia, weight loss or gain, arm swelling (Harcourt, 2005;Frith et al, 2007;Moorey, 2007). Although patients try to take these living, social activities, relationships, and quality of life (Rosenberg et al, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Association between Socioeconomic Status and Altered Appearance Distress, Body Image, and Quality of Life Among Breast Cancer Patients

Chang¹,

Choi²,

Kim³

et al. 2014

Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention

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Background: Breast cancer patients experience a variety of altered appearance -such as loss or disfigurement of breasts, discolored skin, and hair loss -which result in psychological distress that affect their quality of life. This study aims to evaluate the impact of socioeconomic status on the altered appearance distress, body image, and quality of life among Korean breast cancer patients. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted at advocacy events held at 16 different hospitals in Korea. Subjects were eligible to participate if they were 18 years of age or older, had a histologically confirmed diagnosis of breast cancer, had no evidence of recurrence or metastasis, and had no psychological problems at the time of the survey. Employment status, marital status, education, and income were assessed for patient socioeconomic status. Altered appearance distress was measured using the NCI's cancer treatment side effects scale; body image and quality of life were measured by the EORTC QLC-C30 and BR23. Means and standard deviations of each outcome were compared by socioeconomic status and multivariate linear regression models for evaluating the association between socioeconomic status and altered appearance distress, body image, and quality of life. Results: A total of 126 breast cancer patients participated in the study; the mean age of participants was 47.7 (SD=8.4). Of the total, 83.2% were married, 85.6% received more than high school education, 35.2% were employed, and 41% had more than $3000 in monthly household income. About 46% had mastectomy, and over 30% were receiving either chemotherapy or radiation therapy at the time of the survey. With fully adjusted models, the employed patients had significantly higher altered appearance distress (1.80 vs 1.48; p<0.05) and poorer body image (36.63 vs 51.69; p<0.05) compared to the patients who were unemployed. Higher education (10.58, standard error (SE)=7.63) and family income (12.88, SE=5.08) was positively associated with better body image after adjusting for age, disease stage at diagnosis, current treatment status, and breast surgery type. Similarly, patients who were married and who had higher education had better quality of life were statistically significant in the multivariate models. Conclusions: Socioeconomic status is significantly associated with altered appearance distress, body image, and quality of life in Korean women with breast cancer. Patients who suffer from altered appearance distress or lower body image are much more likely to experience psychosocial, physical, and functional problems than women who do not, therefore health care providers should be aware of the changes and distresses that these breast cancer patients go through and provide specific information and psychosocial support to socioeconomically more vulnerable patients.

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“…Cancer and cancer treatment can have a profound impact on a patient's physical appearance (Frith et al, 2007;Rumsey and Harcourt, 2005). For the majority of patients, appearance changes (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Portuguese version of the Body Image Scale (BIS) – psychometric properties in a sample of breast cancer patients

Moreira

Silva

Marques

et al. 2010

European Journal of Oncology Nursing

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Keywords:Body image scale Instrument Body image Cancer Portuguese version EORTC Breast cancer a b s t r a c t Purpose: The aim of this study was to analyse the psychometric properties of the Portuguese version of the body image scale (BIS; Hopwood, P., Fletcher, I., Lee, A., Al Ghazal, S., 2001. A body image scale for use with cancer patients. European Journal of Cancer, 37,[189][190][191][192][193][194][195][196][197]. This is a brief and psychometric robust measure of body image for use with cancer patients, independently of age, cancer type, treatment or stage of the disease and it was developed in collaboration with the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Quality of Life Study Group. Method: The sample is comprised of 173 Portuguese postoperative breast cancer patients that completed a battery of measures that included the BIS and other scales of body image and quality of life, in order to explore its construct validity. Results: The Portuguese version of BIS confirmed the original unidimensional structure and demonstrated adequate internal consistency, both in the global sample (a ¼ .93) as in surgical subgroups (mastectomy ¼ .92 and breast-conserving surgery ¼ .93). Evidence for the construct validity was provided through moderate to largely sized correlations between the BIS and other related measures. In further support of its discriminant validity, significant differences in BIS scores were found between women who underwent mastectomy and those who underwent breast-conserving surgery, with the former presenting higher scores. Age and time since diagnosis were not associated with BIS scores. Conclusions: The Portuguese BIS proved to be a reliable and valid measure of body image concerns in a sample of breast cancer patients, allowing a brief and comprehensive assessment, both on clinical and research settings.

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Anticipating an altered appearance: Women undergoing chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer

Cited by 85 publications

References 20 publications

Perception, Attitudes, Preparedness and Experience of Chemotherapy-Induced Alopecia among Breast Cancer Patients: a Qualitative Study

Perception, Attitudes, Preparedness and Experience of Chemotherapy-Induced Alopecia among Breast Cancer Patients: a Qualitative Study

Association between Socioeconomic Status and Altered Appearance Distress, Body Image, and Quality of Life Among Breast Cancer Patients

The Portuguese version of the Body Image Scale (BIS) – psychometric properties in a sample of breast cancer patients

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