Exploring psychosocial needs of young women with breast cancer in a country with crisis: a mixed-methods study.

Q3 Medicine
Medical Journal of Malaysia Pub Date : 2025-03-01
S Hasan, K S Chew, R V Vincent, S S L Wong
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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Introduction: Previous research conducted in politically stable countries showed that the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer among young women can be very distressing and devastating and may result in a lot of unmet psychosocial needs affecting their quality of life. This study aimed to address the psychosocial needs of young women with breast cancer in war-torn Syria.

Materials and methods: A mixed-methods explanatory sequential design was employed in this study. Initially, a quantitative survey was conducted for 3 months from May to July 2022 on 167 young women using the Psychological Needs Inventory to identify their psychosocial needs. Secondly, a qualitative, semi-structured interview was conducted for 6 months from July to December 2022 with 11 participants to explore the challenges faced in meeting these needs.

Results: The quantitative results showed that three items, "Help with financial matters", "Advice about food and diet", and "Help with transport", were identified as significant unmet psychosocial needs. All three items fall within the category of practical needs. The qualitative results identified five themes: (1) challenges of adequate information needs with five subthemes (inadequate communication with the health professionals, lack of educational programs and awareness campaigns, inadequate number of nurses, need for nutritionists, and effects of unmet informational needs); (2) psychological challenges with five subthemes (uncertainty of the future, fear concerning the children, fear of death, treatment-related effects and the loss of a woman's identity, and inadequate psychosocial care); (3) financial challenges with 2 subthemes (treatment not available and expensive, low incomes and high cost of living); (4) social influences with 2 subthemes (society's view and stigma, lack of marriage choices); and (5) environmental stressors with 2 subthemes (stressful hospital environment and situational factors).

Conclusion: These psychosocial needs identified were found to align with Maslow's hierarchy of needs, underscoring a cascading effect of the Syrian crisis across various dimensions of well-being. Young breast cancer women living in countries with crises have high levels of unmet psychosocial needs.

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来源期刊
Medical Journal of Malaysia
Medical Journal of Malaysia Medicine-Medicine (all)
CiteScore
1.20
自引率
0.00%
发文量
165
期刊介绍: Published since 1890 this journal originated as the Journal of the Straits Medical Association. With the formation of the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA), the Journal became the official organ, supervised by an editorial board. Some of the early Hon. Editors were Mr. H.M. McGladdery (1960 - 1964), Dr. A.A. Sandosham (1965 - 1977), Prof. Paul C.Y. Chen (1977 - 1987). It is a scientific journal, published quarterly and can be found in medical libraries in many parts of the world. The Journal also enjoys the status of being listed in the Index Medicus, the internationally accepted reference index of medical journals. The editorial columns often reflect the Association''s views and attitudes towards medical problems in the country. The MJM aims to be a peer reviewed scientific journal of the highest quality. We want to ensure that whatever data is published is true and any opinion expressed important to medical science. We believe being Malaysian is our unique niche; our priority will be for scientific knowledge about diseases found in Malaysia and for the practice of medicine in Malaysia. The MJM will archive knowledge about the changing pattern of human diseases and our endeavours to overcome them. It will also document how medicine develops as a profession in the nation. We will communicate and co-operate with other scientific journals in Malaysia. We seek articles that are of educational value to doctors. We will consider all unsolicited articles submitted to the journal and will commission distinguished Malaysians to write relevant review articles. We want to help doctors make better decisions and be good at judging the value of scientific data. We want to help doctors write better, to be articulate and precise.
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