Abstract
Background:Living with breast cancer (BC) involves making many decisions, which immediately follow the diagnosis of BC. These decisions concern not only medical care, but also sociopsychological aspects, suggesting that women with BC need a wide range of support. To understand the challenges Japanese women encounter following a diagnosis of BC, we holistically explored decisions women perceived themselves to have made following such a diagnosis. Methods:This was a cross-sectional, internet-based study comprising open-ended question. Qualitative content analysis was employed on the 1,158 free descriptive responses obtained from 549 participants. The frequencies of decisions were compared according to age at diagnosis using the chi-square test. Results:Approximately 80% of the participants reported having made some decisions. These decisions were separated into 14 categories: two categories were related to medical care and 12 were related to sociopsychological decisions. The frequency of sociopsychological decisions was higher than that of medical care decisions. About two-thirds of participants reported having made more than two decisions, and about one-third reported having made both medical and sociopsychological decisions. The decisions made by women varied based on age group at diagnosis. The lower the age group at diagnosis, the higher was the frequency of decisions related to both medical care and sociopsychological matters. Participants who were diagnosed with BC at a younger age were more likely to encounter a greater number of sociopsychological decisions, such as those concerning employment, fatality, and marriage, compared with those who were diagnosed at an older age. Conclusions:This analysis of open-ended questions suggests that Japanese women diagnosed with BC have a wide range of support needs that vary according to their age group at diagnosis.
Highlights
Living with breast cancer (BC) involves making many decisions, which immediately follow the diagnosis of BC
Participants who were diagnosed with BC at a younger age were more likely to encounter a greater number of sociopsychological decisions, such as those concerning employment, fatality, and marriage, compared with those who were diagnosed at an older age
The open-ended question asked from the participants was: “From the time you were diagnosed with breast cancer to the present, please list at the most three things that you have decided because you got sick and that have remained in your mind, regardless of whether or not they were directly related to treatment.”
Summary
Living with breast cancer (BC) involves making many decisions, which immediately follow the diagnosis of BC These decisions concern medical matters, and psychosocial ones, suggesting that women with BC need a wide range of support. BC has been seen to affect body image and sexual function among the Japanese, especially among those who have undergone a total mastectomy (Adachi et al, 2007) These researches suggest that decision-making or problemsolving related to BC diagnosis or BC treatment is a long and stressful process. These decisions concern medical care, and sociopsychological aspects, suggesting that women with BC need a wide range of support. Conclusions: This analysis of open-ended questions suggests that Japanese women diagnosed with BC have a wide range of support needs that vary according to their age group at diagnosis
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