Supportive Care Needs of Women with Breast Cancer: A Systematic Review
Downloads
Introduction: An understanding of supportive care needs is essential to achieve good quality care for women with breast cancer. This concept defines the needs of cancer patients in relation to the physical, emotional, psychological, social, informational and spiritual domains since the start of their journey through diagnosis, treatment, survivorship, palliative care and the grief process.
Methods: This study was conducted to explore the unmet supportive care needs of women with breast cancer. Databases were searched in the journals using pre-determined keywords such as ‘supportive care needs', ‘breast cancer' and ‘woman'. The databases used were Scopus, Pro Quest, Science Direct and EBSCO. The search was limited to journals published in the period 2014-2020. Out of the 189 nursing journals initially found, 16 journals were selected that met all of the eligibility criteria. Eight studies used a cross-sectional design.
Results: Most of the breast cancer patients were in the post-diagnosis phase and had survived. More than 50% of the journals reported that the needs of breast cancer women were going unmet. The predictors of a higher level of need among the breast cancer patients are age, social support and information. The most prevalent unmet needs among the women with breast cancer were found to be in the health system and related to information.
Conclusion: Future research should focus on improving the education and psychological support programs available to provide for the unmet supportive care needs of patients newly-diagnosed with breast cancer. This can provide high quality care for them.
Abdollahzadeh, F., Moradi, N., Pakpour, V., Rahmani, A., Zamanzadeh, V., Mohammadpoorasl, A., & Howard, F. (2014). Un-met supportive care needs of Iranian breast cancer patients. Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention, 15(9), 3933–3938. https://doi.org/10.7314/APJCP.2014.15.9.3933
Aunan, S. T., Wallgren, G. C., & Sí¦tre Hansen, B. (2019). Breast cancer survivors' experiences of dealing with information during and after adjuvant treatment: A qualitative study. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 28(15–16), 3012–3020. https://doi.org/10.1111/jocn.14700
Cheng, K. K. F., Darshini Devi, R., Wong, W. H., & Koh, C. (2014). Perceived symptoms and the supportive care needs of breast cancer survivors six months to five years post-treatment period. European Journal of Oncology Nursing, 18(1), 3–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejon.2013.10.005
Chou, Y. H., Chia-Rong Hsieh, V., Chen, X. X., Huang, T. Y., & Shieh, S. H. (2020). Unmet supportive care needs of survival patients with breast cancer in different cancer stages and treatment phases. Taiwanese Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 59(2), 231–236. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tjog.2020.01.010
Davis, C. M., Nyamathi, A. M., Abuatiq, A., Fike, G. C., & Wilson, A. M. (2018). Understanding supportive care factors among African American breast cancer survivors. Journal of Transcultural Nursing, 29(1), 21–29. https://doi.org/10.1177/1043659616670713
Dine, J. (2017). Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors: An Innovation in Immunotherapy. Asia Pac J Oncol Nurs, 4(2), 95–97. https://doi.org/10.4103/apjon.apjon
Edib, Z., Kumarasamy, V., binti Abdullah, N., Rizal, A. M., &
Al-Dubai, S. A. R. (2016). Most prevalent unmet supportive care needs and quality of life of breast cancer patients in a tertiary hospital in Malaysia. Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, 14(1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12955-016-0428-4
Faghani, S., Mohammadian, R., Rahmani, A., Mohajjel-Aghdam, A. R., Hassankhani, H., & Azadi, A. (2015). Supportive care needs of Iranian cancer survivors and relationships with social support. Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention, 16(15), 6339–6345. https://doi.org/10.7314/APJCP.2015.16.15.6339
Han, S. J., Kim, H. W., Yoon, D. S., & Kim, M. R. (2019). Quality of life and supportive care needs of back-to-work breast cancer survivors. Korean Journal of Adult Nursing, 31(5), 552–561. https://doi.org/10.7475/kjan.2019.31.5.552
Lam, W. W. T., Tsang, J., Yeo, W., Suen, J., Ho, W. M., Yau, T. K., ... Fielding, R. (2014). The evolution of supportive care needs trajectories in women with advanced breast cancer during the 12 months following diagnosis. Supportive Care in Cancer, 22(3), 635–644. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-013-2018-x
Liao, M. N., Chen, S. C., Lin, Y. C., Chen, M. F., Wang, C. H., & Jane, S. W. (2014). Education and psychological support meet the supportive care needs of Taiwanese women three months after surgery for newly diagnosed breast cancer: A non-randomised quasi-experimental study. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 51(3), 390–399. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2013.07.007
Mohammadzadeh Nimekari, M., Saei Ghare Naz, M., Ashouri Taziani, Y., Nasiri, M., Evazi, M. R., Shafizad, A., & Ozgoli, G. (2019). Correlation between supportive care needs of women with breast cancer and quality of life of their family caregivers. International Journal of Community Based Nursing and Midwifery, 7(4), 300–308. https://doi.org/10.30476/IJCBNM.2019.73892.0
Molassiotis, A., Yates, P., Li, Q., So, W. K. W., Pongthavornkamol, K., Pittayapan, P., ... Si, S. Y. H. (2017). Mapping unmet supportive care needs, quality-of-life perceptions and current symptoms in cancer survivors across the Asia-Pacific region: Results from the International STEP Study. Annals of Oncology, 28(10), 2552–2558. https://doi.org/10.1093/annonc/mdx350
Rahmani, A., Ferguson, C., Jabarzadeh, F., Mohammadpoorasl, A., Moradi, N., & Pakpour, V. (2014). Supportive care needs of Iranian cancer patients. Indian Journal of Palliative Care, 20(3), 224–228. https://doi.org/10.4103/0973-1075.138400
So, W. K. W., Chow, K. M., Chan, H. Y. L., Choi, K. C., Wan, R. W. M., Mak, S. S. S., ... Chan, C. W. H. (2014). Quality of life and most prevalent unmet needs of Chinese breast cancer survivors at one year after cancer treatment. European Journal of Oncology Nursing, 18(3), 323–328. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejon.2014.03.002
Torres, E., Dixon, C., & Richman, A. R. (2015). Understanding the Breast Cancer Experience of Survivors : a Qualitative Study of African American Women in Rural Eastern North Carolina. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-015-0833-0
Authors who publish with Jurnal Ners agree to the following terms:
- Authors transfer the Copyright and grant Jurnal Ners the right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License that allows others to remix, adapt and build upon the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and of the initial publication in Jurnal Ners.
- Authors are permitted to copy and redistribute the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in Jurnal Ners.
Jurnal Ners requires a formal written declaration and transfer of copyright from the author(s) for each article published. We, therefore, ask you to complete and return this form, retaining a copy for your own records. Your cooperation is essential and appreciated. Any delay will result in a delay in publication. The form can be downloaded HERE.
