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 wellbeing of Australian breast cancer (BC) survivors with co-morbid lymphoedema. Findings relating to differences in the care and support needs of lymphoedema patients with regard to differences in the time since diagnosis of their BC are reported. Methods: Participants were 101 Australian women (mean age 61.4 years, SD 9.4) with upper body lymphoedema resulting from treatment for BC. Recruitment was via advertisements placed in lymphoedema society newsletters. Participants completed and returned via reply paid mail a range of 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, 3þ years), where DV ¼ SCNS patient care and support (F2, 98 ¼ 5.88, p> 0.01). A Tukey’s post-hoc test revealed significant differences on the patient care and support domain of the SCNS between those diagnosed with BC 0 to 2 and 2 to 3 years ago ( p ¼ 0.028), and between 2 to 3 and more than 3 years ago ( p ¼ 0.003). There was no significant difference between those diagnosed with 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 reported significantly greater need on the SCNS domain ‘patient care and support’ relative to those receiving their diagnosis either within the previous 2 years, or more than 3 years ago. These findings suggest that following the initial intense contact with medical services during BC treatment, there exists period where women’s needs in relation to patient care and support are not met, after which adjustment is evident. 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.