Paliatívna medicína a liečba bolesti 3/2011

Psychosocial support and social integration of breast cancer survivors

Living with a diagnosis of cancer creates a great deal of emotional distress: fear from cancer recurrence, uncerntainty, loss of self-esteem, body image perception, family and sexual problems along with clinical symptoms (fatigue, pain, etc) may lead to the behavioral risk profile development and social isolation. The aim of the present paper was to analyze psychosocial consequences of breast cancer diagnosis and treatment in patients treated by breast conserving surgery versus modified radical mastectomy one and three years after diagnosis. The health-related quality of life, psychosocial distress, and social status of breast cancer survivors was studied by means of European Organisation of Research and Treatment of Cancer questionaire (EORTC-QLQ-C30.3). The results showed, that in comparison with patients treated by breast conserving surgery, mastectomised patients scored considerably lower what concerns health-realted quality of life, higher psychosocial distress, and lower social relationship. However, even 3 years post-diagnosis, patients treated by breast conserving surgery and surviving without visible mutilation are suffering from enhanced anxiosity, depression, uncerntainty, lonelesness and inability to enjoy social relations even three years post-surgery. The consequences of psychosocial morbidity and social isolation on to quality of life and survival rate and the need of psychosocial support and resocialisation of cancer patients is discussed.

Keywords: breast cancer, psychosocial morbidity, intervention, social integration.