Depression and medication adherence among breast cancer survivors: Bridging the gap with the theory of planned behaviour

Evidence suggests that more depressed breast cancer patients will less likely adhere to treatment plans. This study presents evidence that the theory of planned behaviour mediates the relation between depression and intentions to adhere to treatment plans and between depression and lack of adherence to medication regime. Two hundred and thirteen women undergoing breast cancer treatment participated in this study. Measures of depressive symptoms and planned behaviour variables were collected at the first time point; measures of medication adherence were collected at the second time point. Structural equation models were utilised to fit the data to the proposed models. Depressive symptoms were significantly correlated to both intentions and medication adherence. In support of hypotheses, the relation between depressive symptoms and treatment intention was mediated by attitudes towards health maintenance plans. The relation between depressive symptoms and medication adherence was fully mediated by the planned behaviour process. Conditions under which treatment intentions and perceptions of control in adhering to treatment were most related to medication adherence were elucidated. The results point to avenues for interventions to increase medication adherence among breast cancer patients. Manipulating attitudes and perceptions of control towards treatment plans will potentially serve to increase medication adherence.     

Randomised trial of expressive writing for distressed metastatic breast cancer patients

Women with metastatic breast cancer and significant psychological distress (N?=?87) were assigned randomly to engage in four home-based sessions of expressive writing or neutral writing. Women in the expressive writing group wrote about their deepest thoughts and feelings regarding their cancer, whereas women in the neutral writing group wrote about their daily activities in a factual manner. No statistically significant group differences in existential and psychological well-being, fatigue and sleep quality were found at 8-weeks post-writing. However, the expressive writing group reported significantly greater use of mental health services during the study than the neutral writing group (55% vs. 26%, respectively; p?<?0.05). Findings suggest that expressive writing may improve the uptake of mental health services among distressed cancer patients, but is not broadly effective as a psychotherapeutic intervention.     

乳腺癌患者自我管理行为与生活质量的相关性研究

探讨乳腺癌患者自我管理行为、生活质量及两者之间的相关性.应用慢性病自我管理研究测量表中的自我管理行为量表、乳腺癌患者生活质量测定量表调查260例乳腺癌患者的自我管理行为和生活质量.乳腺癌患者自我管理行为及生活质量现状均不理想,自我管理行为与生活质量呈正相关（P＜0.05）.乳腺癌患者自我管理行为与生活质量间有密切关系,临床护理工作中可对患者进行护理干预来增强其自我管理行为,进而提高生活质量.     

早期乳腺癌患者术后心理状况研究

早期乳腺癌的检出率越来越高,关注治愈率同时,人们越来越关心患者术后的心理状态及生活质量.本文对保乳术及根治术后5年患者进行心理调查.保乳组患者术后心理障碍发生率明显低于根治组.保乳组患者术后心理状况影响因素主要为术后美容效果,而根治组患者心理障碍发生率与年龄、职业、家庭收入相关.两种手术方式对患者5年生存率及无病生存率的影响无明显差异,所以对于早期乳腺癌患者,在符合保乳原则的前提下,保乳手术是一种既安全又能提高生活质量的手术方式.     

Combined hysterectomy and mastectomy surgery for transgender patients in an integrated health care setting

Background: Hysterectomy and mastectomy surgery for gender affirmation have traditionally been performed as separate surgeries. Our institution offers these surgeries as a single combined procedure, typically with same-day discharge. Decreasing the number of times patients need to have surgery may reduce barriers to care by limiting surgical and hospital stay events. Our primary objective was to describe the perioperative experience of transgender patients who underwent combined hysterectomy and mastectomy surgery.

Methods: This retrospective case series assessed patients who underwent combined hysterectomy and mastectomy surgery between 2013 and 2015 in an integrated health care setting in the United States. Chart reviews were performed for outcomes of interest, which included operative and postoperative complications.

Results: We identified 25 patients who underwent a combined hysterectomy and mastectomy for the indication of gender transition. Preoperative patient characteristics included a median age of 31, with a median BMI of 25. Ninety-two percent of the patients were on testosterone therapy at the time of surgery. A total of 76% and 24% of patients had laparoscopic and vaginal hysterectomies, respectively. Intraoperatively, the average blood loss was 104 mL, and there were no complications. Eighty percent of patients were discharged on the same day. Postoperatively, 92% of patients experienced no major complications. One patient received a uterine artery embolization and blood transfusion for postoperative intraabdominal bleeding, and one patient presented 9 weeks after surgery with partial vaginal cuff dehiscence requiring a cuff revision. There were no re-admissions within six months of surgery. There were no major mastectomy-related complications.

Conclusions: Combined surgeries are feasible and reduce the number of surgical events and hospital stays. There were no complications that could be attributed to undergoing two procedures as a single incident.     

Cancer survivors’ and partners’ key concerns and quality of life

Objective: Understanding the concerns of cancer survivors is essential for effective interventions. This study was designed to identify the primary concerns of dyads coping with cancer, how concerns differed by role and sex, and whether concerns expressed during counselling were associated with survivors’ psychosocial well-being and adjustment.

Design: Forty-three dyads with breast and prostate cancer (N = 86 participants) were enrolled in an interpersonal telephone counselling intervention. Audio recordings of 228 counselling sessions were transcribed and content analysed qualitatively to identify major themes and key concerns. A total of three 30-min sessions were coded for each study participant. Quantitative data and statistical analyses were used to predict changes in survivors’ quality of life.

Main Outcome Measures: Participants completed psychosocial well-being measures (depression, positive/negative affect, and relationship satisfaction), pre- and post-counselling.

Results: Survivors’ concerns focused on cancer- and treatment-related issues, whereas partners’ concerns centred on the well-being of their spouse/partner with cancer, and what they were doing to help their loved one cope with his/her illness. Key concerns for all consisted of relationship maintenance and communication issues. Further, discussion of these concerns was predictive of significant improvements in adjustment post-counselling for women with breast cancer.

Conclusion: Discussion of interpersonal concerns may play a more important role in the well-being of women, than men, coping with cancer.     

乳腺癌手术患者术前心理危机的原因剖析与应对策略

乳腺癌手术患者术前严重的心理危机对其极为不利,笔者从多方面剖析了患者术前心理危机产生的原因,同时针对乳腺癌手术患者术前心理危机如何有效应对提出了诸多策略,最后就目前临床工作中存在的一些不足进行了必要的思考。     

乳腺癌术式的演变及其最佳选择

乳腺癌作为女性常见的恶性肿瘤之一,一直是肿瘤学界研究的热点和焦点。手术作为其基本的治疗手段,术式几经改变。通过对乳腺癌术式演变的历史回顾,认为正是由于对乳腺癌生物学行为研究的不断深入,使得乳腺癌手术切除范围更趋于规范和科学。而由生物医学模式向生物—心理—社会医学模式的转变,以及循证医学(EBM)研究的开展,更促进了乳腺癌术式的不断改进,以最大程度减少并发症,获得更为满意的疗效。     

Varying Levels and Types of Engagement in an Online Relationship Enhancement Program for Couples Following Breast Cancer

Engagement in online interventions, defined as the extent to which participants are involved in and attentive to the contents of the intervention, has been shown to predict treatment outcome. However, participant engagement and program completion are often quite low. Aiming to provide insights that could help improve engagement, this study explores engagement in an online intervention for young couples with breast cancer, Couplelinks, by describing the development of a method to assess engagement, presenting a framework for understanding varying engagement levels, and discussing strategies used by Couplelinks facilitators to work with participants of differing engagement levels. The measure of engagement developed for this study was a composite consisting of indices of average completion time, accountability, and attitude. Utilizing this composite measure, the following distinct “couple types,” with varying levels of engagement, were discerned: (a) “keen” couples, (b) “compliant” couples, (c) “apologetic” couples, and (d) “straggling” couples. Facilitators’ approaches to working with each type of couple and suggestions for potential therapeutic applications are discussed. The finding that couples vary in terms of engagement level, and not solely based on facilitator skill and/or involvement, supports the need to better understand the concept of engagement in order to make online interventions more effective.     

乳腺癌的现代与传统治疗模式的比较分析与思考

乳腺癌是女性最常见的恶性肿瘤之一,现代治疗模式已经广泛应用于临床。近年来,随着循证医学和基因相关技术及生物信息技术的不断发展,乳腺癌治疗方法得到不断改进,但远没有达到系统化、个体化、最优化的治疗目的。因此,现有的治疗模式值得我们去深思,并从哲学意义上探索更为完善的治疗模式。