Abstract
ObjectivesWomen who underwent chemotherapy (CT) for metastatic breast cancer (MBC) used both adaptive and maladaptive coping strategies but had low implementation levels. The present study explores the qualitative experience of coping strategies for women with MBC undergoing CT in Beijing.MethodsA hermeneutic phenomenological approach was employed on twenty Chinese MBC women undergoing CT. These interviews were transcribed verbatim, coded using thematic analysis, and analyzed using NVivo 11.ResultsThree themes are highlighted: Maintaining hope; Spiritual growth, and Self-perceived support resources.ConclusionThe present study results have led to a greater understanding of the tremendous impact of CT on MBC women’s lives. This research provides insight into the scope of maintaining hope. Spiritual growth and self-perceived support resources were crucial factors to coping strategies among MBC women to improve their quality of life.Clinical RelevanceBy attaining the adaptive coping strategies and further understanding about Chinese MBC women, health care professionals are encouraged to appraise MBC women’s specific problems and adopt effective interventions to improve MBC women’s psychosocial wellbeing.
Highlights
Global breast cancer (BC) is the most common cancer among females (Sung et al, 2021)
We found that the majority of the MBC women participants reported using adaptive coping strategies, including maintaining hope, positive thinking, spiritual growth, strengthening family ties and love and self-perceived support resources
The insight this study provides into the culture-based predisposition of Chinese women to adopt specific coping strategies in the face of MBC adds a valuable resource to an area that has not been adequately studied
Summary
Global breast cancer (BC) is the most common cancer among females (Sung et al, 2021). It accounts for about 30% of female cancers and has a mortality-to-incidence ratio of 15%, as the first oncological cause of death in women (Siegel et al, 2020). BC is the most prevalent malignant tumor in Chinese women, there were 416,371 new cases of breast cancer among new-onset cancers, which accounted for 19.9% (World Health Organization, 2020), with rising occurrence rates (Cao et al, 2021). MBC women’s median survival time is 3 years, the range of overall survival time is more comprehensive because MBC survivors carry the illness for an extended period (Cardoso et al, 2020). The population of MBC survivors, who would undergo a long anticancer journey, is uprising
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