Abstract
Background: Globally, breast cancer, the most diagnosed cancer, affects around 2.3 million individuals. Approximately 28% to 38% of breast cancer patients develop lymphedema post-treatment, impacting one in five patients. Without intervention, the condition leads to serious complications, affecting daily tasks. Sub-Saharan Africa reports increasing comorbidities related to lymphedema, yet no data exists on its prevalence in Kenya. This study assessed clinical management strategies for breast cancer treatment-induced lymphedema in selected Western Kenya hospitals.
 Material And Methods: This was a cross-sectional analytic study. Simple random sampling was used to select healthcare facilities offering cancer screening and treatment. Healthcare providers were randomly selected from five health facilities depending on the number required at each health facility. 192 healthcare providers were selected to participate in the study. Data collection was by structured questionnaires, observation checklist and focus group discussion, analysed by SPSS version 23.1 and Qualitative data thematically analysed guided by questions on knowledge, skills and management strategies.
 Results: The results showed healthcare providers' knowledge ranging from low to average with a deficit in important areas of practice such as skincare (OR=0.56, p=0.01). stocking pressure (OR=1.841, P=0.004, positive stemmer's sign test (OR=2.217, p=0.001) with over 50% getting incorrect answers. Good history and assessment Skills were demonstrated (0R=1.6; CI;1.0-24; P=0.037) but patient education was poorly done. Focus group discussion showed a deficit in knowledge by failure to clearly define lymphedema.
 Conclusion: Structured education of lymphedema is needed to increase the knowledge of healthcare providers and improving knowledge may fill the gaps in knowledge and demonstrate good practical skills in patient management
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
