(386) Emotional Aspects of Patients After Treatment of Penile Cancer: A Qualitative Aproach With Patients Accompanied at Urology Oncology Service of a Public Hospital
Authors: Silva I , Naccarato A , Denardi F , Ferreira U , Matheus W 
Published: May 2023

Introduction

The penile cancer is a rare neoplasia affecting mostly the lower income and scholarship socioeconomic levels. Patients with penile cancer live for several months, even years, with the symptoms before seeking a urologist. The delay of seeking medical assistance is mainly due to the fact of poor own recognition of having a serious disease, fear of treatment and surgery. Delayed treatment affects the severity of prognostic and quality of life of patients. For the advanced stages, penectomy is still the best available treatment.

Objective

This study aims to comprehend the meaning of the experience of patients with penile cancer who underwent partial or total penectomy.

Methods

The medical records of patients who were surgically treated due to this neoplasia were reviewed using the hospital database. After reviewing the data, the researchers contacted the patients and offered an interview with the psychologist of the Oncology Urology outpatient clinic. On the scheduled return day, patients met with the same psychologist, which applied semi-structured interviews seeking the meaning of the lived experience. After conducting the interview, the literal transcription and subsequent synthesis of what was transcribed was carried out. From the collected data, two more syntheses were made in search of the units of meaning and then analysis of the collected speeches, seeking to understand the meaning of the lived experience of each of the intervewees. The final step is to seek the shared experience of the studied phenomenom, in this case the penile cancer. After completion of the process, the syntheses were submitted to 2 independent psychologist colleagues for a better understanding of the described phenomena.

Results

Were interviewed 7 men who had penile cancer and underwent treatment, with total or partial penectomy. The average age of participants is 57,3 years. Of the interviewed patients, 4 are married, 2 are single but in a relationship, and 1 is divorced. All patients reported unfavorable sociocultural and socioeconomic aspects, lacking basic information on self-care and on who cared for them. The results are in a qualitative analysis. There are indications of significant themes, such as: Doubts about own masculinity and virility; Denial of pain and discomfort caused by symptoms of the penile cancer; Refusal of care; Resignation towards fate, lack of meaning in life; Sadness of having lost what makes a man normal; Ambivalence between the concern to remain a man and the concern for survival; Indiscriminate feelings, cultural precariousness; “Lack of care and waiting for the problem to go away”: characteristic culturally attributed to men.

Conclusions

The integrative look allows the scientific community to approach how the person feels when going through the experience and caring for the patient with a broader and more attentive look. It can be seen, even with the preliminary results, that this is an extremely painful experience that affects deep layers of human experience, and that access to information, culture and sex education could be of great help in preventing the disease.

Disclosure

No