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International Journal of Applied Research
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ISSN Print: 2394-7500, ISSN Online: 2394-5869, CODEN: IJARPF

IMPACT FACTOR (RJIF): 8.4

Vol. 3, Issue 8, Part G (2017)

Lived experience of women diagnosed with breast cancer: A qualitative study

Lived experience of women diagnosed with breast cancer: A qualitative study

Author(s)
Gincy Joseph, Latha S and Shynee Paul
Abstract
According to WHO, one in every eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their life time [1]. India stands first among other countries in breast cancer mortality [3], not only the estimates of breast cancer are creating frustration among women; the disease itself creates the feeling of worry and dread. Knowing the subjective feelings, experiences and expectations will highlight the importance of quality health care and better coping to the disease. Adequate delivery of need based care to breast cancer patients can be achieved through knowing the feeling, experience and expectations of women diagnosed with breast cancer. A study on lived experiences of women diagnosed with breast cancer in a selected hospital at Mangalore was conducted to explore the experiences and feelings of the women diagnosed with breast cancer.
Materials and Methods: A qualitative approach & phenomenological research design was adopted in this study. Women who were diagnosed with breast cancer for minimum of one year irrespective of their treatment who met the inclusion criteria and attended oncology unit of Justice K S Hedge Charitable Hospital, Mangalore were selected as the samples through the purposive sampling method. Instead, women who were suffering from breast cancer with multiple organ metastasis and women who had undergone surgery two weeks prior to the data collection were excluded from the study. After receiving the ethical clearance from Nitte University and the consent from the study subjects, the researcher interviewed them by using preset semi-structured open ended questions and tape recorded the conversations. Each interview lasted for about 30 – 40minutes. The recordings were transcribed verbatim. Data got saturated with 6 samples.
Results: Colaizzi’s data analysis framework was used to analyze9 the transcribed data and from the analysis, six themes emerged and they were:
1. Ignorance
2. Awareness on the deteriorating physical changes
3. Powerlessness and death anxiety
4. Dysfunctional family process
5. Readiness for enhanced coping
6. Willingness for self-recognition and identity
Conclusion: The findings emphasized the necessity of nurse’s care and concern for subjective aspects in women with breast cancer. It also helped to expose the hidden aspects of the need for concern and time for sharing the feelings in case of such dreadful illness which in turn many times brings ideas for better coping and improves the quality of life and that was agreed upon by many other former researchers.
Pages: 428-433  |  1030 Views  69 Downloads
How to cite this article:
Gincy Joseph, Latha S, Shynee Paul. Lived experience of women diagnosed with breast cancer: A qualitative study. Int J Appl Res 2017;3(8):428-433.
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