Assess the Prevalence for Needs of Breast Cancer Survivors' in the Oncology Ward at a Selected Tertiary Care Hospital

Abstract

The unmet needs of breast cancer survivors are not being addressed as the number of survivors continues to climb.
 Aim and Objective: To determine the prevalence of post-treatment unmet needs and association between unmet needs of breast cancer survivors with selected demographic variables. A descriptive research study was conducted in a tertiary care hospital's oncology outpatient clinic and wards.
 Materials and Methods: Data was gathered in two sections: I – baseline data, and section II – Modified needs assessment questionnaire. 35 needs were categorized as physical, emotional, family, spiritual, practical routine, and sexual relationship needs, with ‘Yes’ scored as ‘1’ and ‘No’ scored as ‘0’. Data was collected for one month. Data tabulation and analysis was done.
 Results: The majority of BCS had a monthly income of Rs.3000- 10000/- (50.8%) and menopause had occurred in 54 (45%) of the women under the age of 45. Majority 65 (78%) did not have health insurance, whereas 42 (35%) had it. Majority 108 (90.33%) breast cancer survivors had high level of needs, whereas 12 (10%) had moderate level of needs. High physical needs reported by 87 (72.50 %) and 32 (26.67%) moderate physical needs. All 100% BCS reported high emotional need. Whereas 2(1.67%) less need, 14(11.67%) moderate, 56 (46.67%) high needs and 48 (40%) very high reported family and spiritual need and 39 (32.5 %) BCS reported moderate level of practical needs. Participants 14(11.67%) less needs, 39 (32.50%) moderate, 22(18.33%) high and very high 8(6.67%) reported practical needs. 100% of breast cancer survivors (BCS) reported physical includes Hot flashes, a change in appetite or eating pattern. High emotional needs followed by physical needs. Family and spiritual requirements of BCS were found to be strongly related to age, P 0.036. Age, education, occupation, income, stage of cancer, and health insurance are not associated with the overall and physical needs of breast cancer survivors (p > 0.05).
 Conclusion: Breast cancer survivors' needs are more prevalent and have an impact on quality of life, prognosis, and recovery of clients. Real, appropriate assessment of breast cancer survivors needs is an important steps in development of need base intervention to improve quality of life. As a result, health care providers should address the needs of BCS patients as soon as possible in order to make better use of scarce health resources.

Supportive Care Needs of Breast Cancer Survivors: A Systematic Review

“…Fear of disclosure [12,14,22,27,28,35,38,45], feelings about death and dying [7,37,46,47], and uncertainty about the future [7,37,43,47] were the next highest-ranked needs. Other psychological and emotional needs included stigma associated with cancer [4,14], frustration [30], low mood and isolated needs [30], and feelings of sadness [47]. In the study by Autade et al (2021), all breast cancer survivors reported emotional needs, including worry, anxiety, depression, anger, frustration, low mood, and isolated needs [30].…”

“…Psychological/emotional needs: 32 studies described the psychological and emotional needs of breast cancer survivors [4,7,13,14,22,23,. The most frequently reported psychological and emotional needs were depression, anxiety, and stress (N=15) [4,23,27,30,34,38,[43][44][45][46][47][49][50][51] and fears about cancer spread and recurrence (N=13) [7,23,28,34,37,39,43,44,46,47,[49][50][51]. In the study conducted by Bu et al (2022), fear of recurrence was identi ed as the most important need in breast cancer survivors; it was reported by 69% of patients [44].…”

“…This challenge related to social relationships, nancial issues, perceived utility in society, and the meaning of life [52]. Despite the fact that survivors had communication problems with others [30,33,51], they were willing to communicate with their partners, health care providers, and other people with cancer [14,33,49,50].…”

“…33% said they had problems with making plans for activities; 19% said that they sometimes had problems with dressing and bathing; and 53% reported having trouble while preparing food. All the BCS reported problems with nance [30].…”

“…Religion and/or spirituality were an important source of emotional support for them [42,45,46]. Some survivors reported experiencing frustration and losing their meaning and purpose in life [30,40]; they needed strong faith and a sincere relationship with God. [46 ,40] In the study by Autade et al (2021), a loss of hope or other spiritual concern was expressed by 50% of BCS respondents.…”