Patient-reported stressful events and coping strategies in post-menopausal women with breast cancer

• The objective of this paper was to explore what stressful events post-menopausal women with primary or recurrent breast cancer experience, how bothersome these events were and which coping strategies these women used. Data were collected from 131 patients diagnosed with primary or recurrent breast cancer. The Daily Coping Assessment was used. Thematic analysis was applied to form themes of stressful events. Six types of stressful events were extracted. The most frequently experienced events for women with primary cancer and those with recurrent cancer were distressing bodily symptoms'. The most bothersome event among primary cancer was everyday concerns' and in the recurrent group, distressing psychological reactions'. The most commonly used strategies were acceptance', distraction' and relaxation'. This study shows that women in different parts of the cancer trajectory differ in what they perceive to be stressful events when reporting them in their own words in a diary. The differences have an impact on the subsequent coping strategies they used.

Ämnesord

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Klinisk medicin (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Clinical Medicine (hsv//eng)

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Hälsovetenskap -- Omvårdnad (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Health Sciences -- Nursing (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

coping strategies

stressful events

breast cancer

level of bother

post-menopausal

diary

quality-of-life

symptom clusters

social support

younger women

distress

survivors

chemotherapy

experiences

predictors

management

Oncology

Health Care Sciences & Services

Nursing

Rehabilitation

breast cancer

Medical sciences

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

art (ämneskategori)