Abstract
We proposed to document the effect of arm morbidity and disability in 40 Canadian women who were 12-24 months post breast cancer surgery. We completed 40 qualitative interviews as one component of a multidisciplinary national longitudinal study of arm morbidity after breast cancer (n = 745) involving four research sites (Fredericton/Saint John, Montreal, Winnipeg, Surrey). During semi-structured interviews, participants who had reported arm morbidity and disability in earlier surveys were asked to discuss the effects of these conditions on everyday life. The interviewees reported making major adjustments to paid and unpaid work, which often involved the assistance of family members, thus demonstrating the effect of disability. Interview data resulted in the creation of a model that addresses arm morbidity and disability, and that holds implications for health care professionals. Based on the interview findings, we conclude that a robust measure of disability after breast cancer should be developed. In the absence of a validated measure of the effect of disability, evaluating qualitative responses to questions about everyday activities could provide the impetus for provision of physical therapy and emotional support.
Highlights
ObjectiveWe proposed to document the effect of arm morbidity and disability in 40 Canadian women who were [12–24] months post breast cancer surgery
Interview data resulted in the creation of a model that addresses arm morbidity and disability, and that holds implications for health care professionals
Based on the interview findings, we conclude that a robust measure of disability after breast cancer should be developed
Summary
We proposed to document the effect of arm morbidity and disability in 40 Canadian women who were [12–24] months post breast cancer surgery. Recent research on breast cancer survivorship has started to acknowledge the long-term social effects of the illness. The advent of sentinel lymph node biopsy (slnb) has led some clinicians to assume that lymphedema is no longer an issue for breast cancer patients because, according to clinical trials, slnb reduces the rate of lymphedema as compared with axillary lymph node dissection (alnd). Because slnb is a relatively new surgical technique, and because survival rates for breast cancer have increased to approximately 86% since the 1970s, it is reasonable to assume that a large population of breast cancer survivors will have experienced an alnd at some point. A common assumption appears to be that, despite evidence to the contrary [7,8,10,14], such symptoms do not affect women’s lives after breast cancer surgery
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