Differences in the care and support needs of women with breast cancer related lymphoedema

Objectives: This poster describes a sub-set of findings from a study assessing the wellbeingof Australian breast cancer (BC) survivors with co-morbid lymphoedema. Findings relatingto differences in the care and support needs of lymphoedema patients with regard to differences inthe time since diagnosis of their BC are reported. Methods: Participants were 101 Australian women (mean age 61.4 years, SD 9.4) with upper bodylymphoedema resulting from treatment for BC. Recruitment was via advertisements placed inlymphoedema society newsletters. Participants completed and returned via reply paid mail a rangeof measures, including the Supportive Care Needs Survey (SCNS-SF34). Results: A oneway ANOVA revealed a significant effect for time since BC diagnosis (0–2, 2–3, 3þyears), where DV ¼ SCNS patient care and support (F2, 98 ¼ 5.88, p> 0.01). A Tukey’s post-hoctest revealed significant differences on the patient care and support domain of the SCNS betweenthose diagnosed with BC 0 to 2 and 2 to 3 years ago ( p ¼ 0.028), and between 2 to 3 andmore than 3 years ago ( p ¼ 0.003). There was no significant difference between those diagnosedwith BC between 0 to 2 and more than 3 years ago ( p ¼ 0.965).Conclusions: Women who had received their BC diagnosis between 2 to 3 years ago reportedsignificantly greater need on the SCNS domain ‘patient care and support’ relative to those receivingtheir diagnosis either within the previous 2 years, or more than 3 years ago. These findings suggest thatfollowing the initial intense contact with medical services during BC treatment, there exists periodwhere women’s needs in relation to patient care and support are not met, after which adjustment isevident. The importance of providing ongoing care and support for women post-BC treatment,when their regular and intensive contact with health professionals ceases, is therefore indicated.