Abstract P1-11-25: The importance of social support and self-esteem in quality of life in patients with breast cancer
Authors: Chagas SR , Chagas CR , Barros BP , Constancio MF , Assunção DS 
Published: May 2019

BACKGROUND:

Among the changes that have occurred in the practice of oncology in the last decade is the recognition that the patient well-being is important for the treatment. Another one was to have a greater focus on Quality of Life (QoL) and its questionnaires to evaluate this well-being.

Self-esteem is a factor that can be promoted through integrative oncology, through support groups and other forms of social support (such as meditation, yoga, massage, recreation, etc.). It is believed that promoting self-esteem is of great value for the improvement of patients' Quality of Life.

Integrative oncology coordinates the delivery of evidence-based complementary therapies with conventional cancer care. Complementary therapies encompass a broad range of mind and body practices, natural products, and lifestyle modifications, and are commonly used by patients with breast cancer and survivors of breast cancer.

METHODS:

A prospective cohort study conducted at three institutions to compare the patients' responses to the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSS - 12) questionnaire, before and after watching two videos of SOCIAL SUPPORT, where women received care for the promotion of increase of SELF-ESTEEM.

The study included 109 patients with breast cancer in different stages of the disease, and it was carried out between December 2017 and June 2018. For all the patients the Free and Informed Consent Term was applied.

RESULTS:

18% of the patients were between 30-40 years old, 28% between 40-50, 28% between 50-60 and 26% had more than 60 years. 55% were in neoadjuvant or adjuvant treatment, while the rest were in palliative treatment. 94% of the patients reported having family support during treatment and 48% of the patients were married.

Of the 10 questions in the questionnaire, four presented a positive change in more than 35% after applying the questionnaire. In these four, the remaining percentage remained with unchanged answers. The four questions are those of numbers 4, 8, 9 and 10 and refer to: 4) ability to do things with the same quality as the general population; 8) feeling of self-respect; 9)feeling useless and 10)feeling a good person at all. It is important to emphasize that question 8 presented a positive change in 53% of respondents.

In the rest of the questions, most of the other questions remained unchanged in more than 30% of the time.

CONCLUSION:

It can be suggested that projects carried out for the promotion of social support must be carried out continuously so that the well-being is promoted in a continuous and permanent way, thus leading to an increase in the quality of life of patients in general.

Citation Format: Chagas SR, Chagas CR, Barros BP, Constancio MF, Assunção DS. The importance of social support and self-esteem in quality of life in patients with breast cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2018 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2018 Dec 4-8; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P1-11-25.