"Our Disease of No Hope”: A Qualitative Study on The Supportive Care Needs of Women Under Treatment For Gynecological Cancer

Sidar Gül

doi:10.31067/acusaglik.1306956

Research Article

BibTex

RIS

Cite

"Our Disease of No Hope”: A Qualitative Study on The Supportive Care Needs of Women Under Treatment For Gynecological Cancer

Year 2024, , 74 - 80, 31.01.2024

Sidar Gül

https://doi.org/10.31067/acusaglik.1306956

Abstract

Background/Purpose: Identifying and managing unmet supportive care needs while caring for a patient with gynecological cancer is an important component of healthcare. The purpose of this study is to determine the supportive care needs of women receiving gynecological cancer treatment.
Methods: This study, using a qualitative research design, was conducted with 15 women diagnosed with gynecological cancer. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with the participants determined by the purposive sampling method until reached the saturation point. The interviews were held between January and May 2022.
Results: The mean age of the participants was 53.5±11.14, five of them were primary school graduates, nine of them had a medium income and 10 were married. Seven of the participants had tanus endometrial cancer and the mean diagnosis period was 10.4±2.5 months. As a result of the analysis of the data, five themes were determined. These themes; the continuity of the need for care, lack of social support, lack of sense of control, the desire to cope with uncertainty, and the lack of communication in the health institution.
Conclusion: It was determined that women who were treated for gynecological cancer had care needs that were not met and needed to be supported due to individual, economic, social and medical reasons. Supportive care needs of women receiving gynecological cancer treatment should be evaluated within the framework of a multidisciplinary team approach, and counseling and rehabilitation programs including symptom management and psychosocial support should be organized in order to improve coping methods with their diseases.

Keywords

gynecological cancer, qualitative study, supportive care, need, woman

Supporting Institution

The author received no external or intramural funding.

Thanks

The author thank the women who participated in this study.

References

1. World Health Organization (WHO). Cancer. Accessed on: 21.06.2023. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/cancer
2. Sung H, Ferlay J, Siegel RL, Laversanne M, Soerjomataram I, Jemal A, et al. Global cancer statistics 2020: GLOBOCAN estimates of incidence and mortality worldwide for 36 cancers in 185 countries. CA Cancer J Clin. 2021;71(3):209–49.
3. Eker A, Aslan E. Psychosocial approach of gynecological cancer patients. Hemşirelikte Eğitim ve Araştırma Dergisi. 2017;14(4): 298-303.
4. Beesley VL, Alemayehu C, Webb PM. A systematic literature review of the prevalence of and risk factors for supportive care needs among women with gynaecological cancer and their caregivers. Support Care Cancer. 2018;26(3):701–10.
5. Afiyanti Y, Gayatri D, Bestral D. Unmet supportive care needs of Indonesian gynecological cancer survivors. Enfermería Clínica. 2019;29(2):869–73.
6. Williams N, Griffin G, Farrell V, Hauck YL. Gaining insight into the supportive care needs of women experiencing gynaecological cancer: a qualitative study. Journal of Clinical Nursing. 2020;29:1684–94.
7. Afiyanti Y, Milanti A, Putri RH. Supportive care needs in predicting the quality of life among gynecological cancer patients. Can Oncol Nurs J. 2018;28(1):22–9.
8. Seven M, Sahin E, Yilmaz S, Akyuz A. Palliative care needs of patients with gynaecologic cancer. J Clin Nurs. 2016;25(21–22):3152–9.
9. Akkuzu G, Kurt G, Guvenc G, Kok G, Simsek S, Dogrusoy S, et al. Learning needs of gynecologic cancer survivors. J Cancer Educ. 2018;33(3):544–50.
10. Lopez AJ, Butow PN, Philp S, Hobbs K, Phillips E, Robertson R, et al. Age‐related supportive care needs of women with gynaecological cancer: a qualitative exploration. Eur J Cancer Care. 2019;28(4):e13070.
11. Hennink M, Hutter I, Bailey A. Qualitative research methods. London:Sage Publication. 2020.
12. Faller H, Brähler E, Härter M, Keller M, Schulz H, Wegscheider K, et al. Unmet needs for information and psychosocial support in relation to quality of life and emotional distress: a comparison between gynecological and breast cancer patients. Patient Educ Couns. 2017;100(10):1934–42.
13. Miroševič Š, Prins JB, Selič P, Zaletel Kragelj L, Klemenc Ketiš Z. Prevalence and factors associated with unmet needs in post‐treatment cancer survivors: a systematic review. Eur J Cancer Care. 2019;28(3):e13060.
14. Driessen KAJ, de Rooij BH, Vos MC, Boll D, Pijnenborg JMA, Hoedjes M, et al. Cancer-related psychosocial factors and self-reported changes in lifestyle among gynecological cancer survivors: cross-sectional analysis of PROFILES registry data. Support Care Cancer. 2022;30(2):1199–207.
15. Manne SL, Kashy DA, Virtue S, Criswell KR, Kissane DW, Ozga M, et al. Acceptance, social support, benefit-finding, and depression in women with gynecological cancer. Qual Life Res. 2018;27(11):2991–3002.
16. La Rosa VL, Shah M, Kahramanoglu I, Cerentini TM, Ciebiera M, Lin L-T, et al. Quality of life and fertility preservation counseling for women with gynecological cancer: an integrated psychological and clinical perspective. J Psychosom Obstet Gynecol. 2020;41(2):86–92.
17. Anuk D. The effect of body ımage concerns, anxiety, and depression on sexual problems in gynecological cancer patients. Turkish J Oncol. 2022;37(2):208–13.
18. Afiyanti Y, Milanti A, Rosdiana M, Juliastuti D. Deficient health care services as barriers to meet care needs of gynecological cancer survivors in Indonesia: a qualitative ınquiry. Semin Oncol Nurs. 2021;37(5):151206.
19. Üstündağ MF, Özcan H, Yazla E, Kıvrak Y, Aydın EF, Yılmaz M. Anxiety and depression symptoms, self-esteem and body image among patients with gynecological cancers: a cross-sectional study. Kafkas J Med Sci. 2017;7(3):214–9.
20. Reb AM, Cope DG. Quality of life and supportive care needs of gynecologic cancer survivors. West J Nurs Res. 2019;41(10):1385–406.
21. Yağmur Y, Duman M. The relationship between the social support level perceived by patients with gynecologic cancer and mental adjustment to cancer. Int J Gynecol Obstet. 2016;134(2):208–11.
22. Mattsson E, Ljungman L, Einhorn K, Sundström Poromaa I, Stålberg K, Wikman A. Perceptions of care after end-of-treatment among younger women with different gynecologic cancer diagnoses – a qualitative analysis of written responses submitted via a survey. BMC Womens Health. 2020;20(1):276.