The supportive care needs of Iranian women with breast cancer treated with chemotherapy

ABSTRACT Background: Cancer is one of the leading causes of death in the entire world that its treatments that can have impact on different dimensions of patient's life extensively. To manage these impacts in the life of patients, we need a wide range of services and supports in the care system. The first stage of any supportive care program designed for patients with cancer, is reviewing the supportive care needs. This study was conducted aimed to evaluate the supportive care needs of women with breast cancer during treatment with chemotherapy drugs. Materials and Methods: This is a descriptive study of 300 women with breast cancer who are treated with chemotherapy drugs in two teaching hospitals affiliated to Tehran’s ShahidBeheshti University of Medical Sciences and Health Services who were selected by available sampling. To evaluate the supportive care needs of patients, a two-part questionnaire about demographic information and a questionnaire about the supportive care needs (SCNS SF34) of 34 items a short form, were used. Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 21 and descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: The mean score of supportive care needs was 43/4 ± 16/6, respectively. The mean scoresof supportive care needs were(54/3 ± 21/3) for physical, (45/4 ± 23/3) for psychological, (37/9 ± 35/7) for sexual, (27/5 ± 21 / 6) for supportive and (45/6 ± 21/5) for health system and informationaspects. There was statistically a significant relationship between the supportive care needs and the age and disease stage of participants (p˂ 0 / 05). Conclusion: The participants in this study had many unmet needs in all aspects, especially in the physical dimension. Younger patients and who were in more advanced disease stage had more unmet needs. According to our findings, the establishment of supportive care programs for women with breast cancer during treatment with chemotherapy drugs is necessaryto cover all aspects of patients care needs, particularly in terms of physical needs. Keywords: breast