| Summary: | Each year approximately 26,000 British women develop breast cancer and 16,000 die from their disease. Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women in the United Kingdom. Previously, most studies have focused on the needs of women following surgery for the treatment of primary breast cancer. However, few systematic studies have monitored the needs of women with metastatic disease. The median survival of women with metastatic breast cancer is 19 months and therefore it would seem appropriate to monitor the rehabilitation needs of these women. This study examines the physical, psychological, and social rehabilitation needs of a consecutive series of 80 patients following definitive diagnosis of metastatic breast cancer. These patients were interviewed every eight weeks at home on eight separate occasions and were asked to complete the following standardised questionnaires: The Cancer Rehabilitation Evaluation System (CARES); The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HAD); and The Rotterdam Symptom Checklist (RSCL). In addition, the researcher completed an interview schedule to detail demographic details, current treatment, and which members of the medical team the patient had seen in the previsou month. The researcher also completed the Edinburgh Rehabilitation Status Scale (ERSS) which gives a total score of disability. The results of the descriptive component demonstrated that patients had a range of different rehabilitation needs throughout the course of their illness as defined by the CARES and the ERSS. These needs do not change throughout the course of the metastatic phase of the disease but detection of these problems is extremely low and, as a result, referral to appropriate services does not usually occur. Demographic factors such as age, marital status, social class, and number and age of children were not found to be associated with rehabilitation status. A significant problem in this group of patients was found to be that of mood disturbance and a complex inter-relationship was found to exist between rehabilitation status, age, physical symptomatology and mood using multiple stepwise regression analyses and factor analysis.
|
|---|
