Copenhagen, Denmark
Onsite/Online

ESTRO 2022

Session Item

Breast
6006
Poster (digital)
Clinical
Assessment of self-esteem in women with breast cancer treated with mastectomy
souhir khemiri, Tunisia
PO-1183

Abstract

Assessment of self-esteem in women with breast cancer treated with mastectomy
Authors:

souhir khemiri1, Rim Trigui2, Wala Ben Kridis3, Nabil Toumi4, Afef Khanfir5

1CHU Habib Bourguiba, medical oncology, sfax, Tunisia; 2CHU Habib Bourguiba, medical oncology, Sfax, Tunisia; 3cHu Habib Bourguiba, medical oncology, Sfax, Tunisia; 4CHU Habib Bourguiba, medical oncology, Sfax , Tunisia; 5Chu Habib Bourguiba , Medical oncology, Sfax , Tunisia

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Purpose or Objective

Assessing self-esteem in cancer patients constitutes an important part of the psychological management of such patients. It will improve their quality of life. The objective of our study is to assess self-esteem in cancer patients treated with a mastectomy.

Material and Methods

Cooper Smith's Self-Esteem Questionnaire was asked to 55 patients between August 2020 and December 2020. The patients were treated with mastectomy for breast cancer. The questionnaire contains 50 questions: 26 questions for general self-esteem, 8 questions for social self-esteem, 8 questions for family self-esteem and 8 questions for professional self-esteem (only for the 39 working patients).  The answer to every question was predefined: a positive or a negative answer. The scoring of the test was as follows: for the positive answer: 0 point for "being like me" and 1 point for "not being like me" and vice versa for the negative answer. Then the total score was calculated. Self-esteem was considered low if the score was below 32 and 40 respectively for non-working and working women.

Results

The majority of patients (37 patients) were over 45 years of age. All patients received chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy. Forty-one patients were married. Thirty-nine patients (71%) were non-working. Thirty seven patients had a psychological support by their families.  The delay of mastectomy was less than 2 years in 35 patients (63%). There were no significant differences in self-esteem between married and unmarried women .For non-working women, the median score of self-esteem was 25[15-41] for non-working women and 41.5[26-4] for working women. Self-esteem was low in 32 (82%) non-working women and in 3 (18.75%) working women. Self-esteem was better in working women (p<0.001). Self-esteem was better in patients who had psychological support by their families. It was better in patients who had the mastectomy more than 10 years ago.

Conclusion

The self-esteem of our patients treated by mastectomy is poor. We should insist on the necessity of psychological care for such patients.