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Congress Abstracts 2006
238
SELF-CARE AND COPING ACTIVITIES OF METASTATIC BREAST CANCER PATIENTS: DESCRIPTION AND FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH USE. Susan Bauer-Wu, DNSc, RN, and Rebecca Norris, BA, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA; and Qin Liu, PhD, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA.
Living with metastatic breast cancer can be physically and emotionally challenging. How individuals cope with the experience can be quite variable. Considerable research has described coping and self-care activities in early stage breast cancer patients, however little is known about this issue for women with advanced stages.
To describe coping and self-care activities used by women with metastatic breast cancer and to examine relationships between participation in these activities, demographics characteristics, and cancer coping style.
City of Hope's Quality of Life framework and Watson and Greer's principles on cancer coping styles guided this work.
Advanced-stage breast cancer patients (N=173) from five cancer treatment facilities across New England completed questionnaires at one time point, assessing cancer coping style (Mini Mental Adjustment to Cancer), demographic characteristics, and different self-care and coping activities. Descriptive and logistic regression analyses were conducted for this secondary analysis, using baseline data from a longitudinal intervention study.
This sample of women with advanced breast cancer commonly used self-care activities, and coping style influenced their participation in some of these activities. A high percentage of participants participated in aerobic exercise at least 2-3 times per week (57%), used prayer/spiritual practices on a regular basis (73%), participated in a cancer support group (45%), and confided in someone when feeling upset (96%), especially significant other. Additionally 26% were keeping a journal. Younger patients (p=0.003), with higher levels of education (p=0.009), and a fatalistic coping style (p=0.02) were more likely to practice yoga/meditation. Use of prayer or other spiritual practices was associated with a fatalistic coping style (p<0.0001), and negatively associated with helplessness/hopelessness (p=0.046) and cognitive avoidance (p=0.004) coping style. Patients who kept a journal were more likely to have a lower performance status (p=0.042) and have a helplessness/hopelessness (p=0.009) coping style. Oncology nurses and other healthcare professionals can be sensitive to their patients' coping styles and provide guidance accordingly on self-care and coping activities that may be most helpful.