Patients' perceptions of breast-cancer-related lymphoedema

Abstract

This article describes a study which was designed to explore patients' perceptions of breast-cancer-related arm lymphoedema and the factors that may be associated with these perceptions. The findings of the study suggest that lymphoedema is a unique and complex experience for the patient which influences many spheres of life. Adjustment to the condition is impeded by higher limb volume and facilitated by appropriate treatment to reduce limb volume.

Psychologic and social sequelae of secondary lymphedema

“…28,[37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44] One prospective study concerned the QOL experienced by survivors of breast carcinoma after breast carcinoma treatment. 42 The other studies were retrospective.…”

“…Research conducted with patients with SLE and breast carcinoma has indicated that general psychiatric and QOL tools may not be sensitive enough to detect arm problems among women after breast surgery. 40,43,46,47,54 Research results have also suggested that generic 23,43,55 and cancerspecific QOL tools 39,46,56 may not include a sufficient range of items to comprehensively assess the psychological and social sequelae of arm morbidity. Although generic measures allow for cross-disease comparisons, disease-specific measures are more sensitive to individual change.…”

“…In particular, it must be noted that a change in excess limb volume appeared to have no bearing on changes in psychological and social scoring on selfreport quantitative measure scores. 38,43,46,47,63 SLE increases psychological and social sequelae and this is in addition to the fear of cancer recurrence and metastasis. Women face multiple sequelae, which equate to exponential risk for distress and other psychological and social sequelae and the nonspecific instruments may not describe, adequately interpret, or add meaningful knowledge to research findings.…”

"Significado do linfedema na vida de mulheres com câncer de mama"

“…Fica evidente a importância das ações preventivas no controle do linfedema, e autores referindo-se à qualidade de vida de mulheres mastectomizadas, consideram primordiais as orientações e cuidados em relação a essa complicação que se apresenta como uma experiência única e complexa, influenciando nas várias esferas da vida (Woods, 1993;Granda, 1994;Clapis, 1996).…”

“…Estudo a respeito da dimensão psicossocial do linfedema pós-tratamento do câncer de mama, explorando as mudanças nas percepções de 40 mulheres, evidenciou que a preocupação com a imagem corporal foi um dos maiores problemas percebidos por elas (Woods, 1993).…”