Aster International Institute of Oncology, Bangalore, India
S.P. Somashekhar , Richa Jaiswal , Ashwin K. Rajgopal , Aaron Marian Fernandes , Rohit Kumar C. Chandrashekar
Background: Breast cancer is the most common cancer among females, and surgery plays a central role in its treatment. Surgical treatments may have a negative psychological impact on women’s mental health regarding their body image. The purpose of this study was to compare the psychological health insights pertaining to objectified body consciousness scores before and after the surgery and also to observe whether these scores were comparable across the surgery types. Methods: This retrospective qualitative study included 706 breast carcinoma patients who underwent either Breast Conservation Surgery or Total Mastectomy at Manipal Cancer Centre, between the years 2020-2021. A validated questionnaire of Objectified Body Consciousness was used to obtain responses at diagnosis and at 6 months postsurgery and final scores were calculated for both instances. Two sample t- tests/analysis of variance and Chi-square tests were used to compare continuous and categorical variables respectively. Results: Out of total 706 breast cancer patients, 402 patients underwent Breast Conservation Surgery and 304 underwent Total Mastectomy procedure. A statistically significant change was seen in the mean Objectified Body Consciousness Score (14.22±15.44) for all patients when compared pre-operatively (72.72±11.38) and postoperatively (60.15±17.58). This change was higher in the Total Mastectomy group (29.38±11.53). Also, statistically significant rise in scores was seen with increasing age. There was a statistically significant difference between BCS and Total Mastectomy groups with respect to the distribution of age group, marital status, types of cancer, stage and grade of cancer, NACT administration and postoperative mean objectified body consciousness scores of patients (p-value <0.05). Conclusions: We could affirmatively conclude in our study that younger breast cancer patients and all patients who underwent a total mastectomy, had more psychological apprehension with the body image post-surgery, signifying these groups should be encouraged by healthcare professionals to reach out for counselling at the earliest. Knowing the pre-operative Objectified Body Consciousness scores and the type of surgery the patient is going to undergo, will help us to streamline categorical psycho-educational programs for each group and personalise our healthcare professionals to encourage women to reach out to social support groups and directed counselling at the earliest. This will help women adapt to their transformed life and be mentally prepared for the changes that are expected post-surgery.
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