Understanding Breast Cancer From the Patients’ Perspective

Abstract

Objectives: We performed this study to seek what patients think about their diagnosis, treatment process and survi vorship. Methods: We evalued 125 breast cancer patients receiving chemotherapy in a descriptive and prospective study usinga well-structured questionnaire. Results: Most of the patients had information about breast cancer screening at the time of the questionnaire (57.6%),but the proportion of those who had prior knowledge of the disease was low (29.6%). While the most frequent signof breast cancer was reported to be a palpable mass (53.6%), the most frequent detection method was breast self examination (67.2%). The most frequent adverse effect of chemotherapy were reported to be hair loss (98.4%). Patients’expectations regarding the disease and adverse events were mostly stated as “I will be completely cured” (79.2% and53.6%, respectively). Etiological factor most frequently accepted by the patients were stress (85.6%). Most of the pa tients received support from their families during the course of the disease (91.2%). Conclusion: This study provides important new information for every stage of the fight against breast cancer from theperspective of cancer patients. These findings are useful for new programs and clinical decision-making.