Breast cancer-related lymphoedema (BCRL) affects 24-42% of patients following treatment for breast cancer. The gold standard method of measuring hand swelling associated with BCRL is to use water displacement (volumeter). This is not always possible in the clinical setting and the figure-of-eight method, which involves wrapping a simple measuring tape around the hand in a specific way, may be an alternative. The aim of the study was to examine the reliability and validity of the figure-of-eight method of measuring hand size in women with BCRL. Twenty-four patients with hand swelling associated with BCRL participated. Two novice testers performed three 'blinded' figure-of-eight measurements and three volumetric measurements of each hand. In terms of intertester (between-tester) and intratester (within-tester) reliability, the intraclass correlation coefficients were all greater than 0.8 indicating high intra- and intertester reliability for the figure-of-eight method. For validity, a Pearson's moment correlation computed between the figure-of-eight and volumetric methods highlighted a statistically significant correlation of 0.7 between the methods for both testers. The figure-of-eight method was found to be a valid and reliable method of measuring hand swelling in this population.

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The aim of this study was to develop a patient self-report tool to detect symptoms of genital and lower limb lymphoedema in male survivors of genitourinary cancer. The study incorporated the views of patients and subject specialists (lymphoedema and urology) in the design of a patient questionnaire based on the literature. Views on comprehensiveness, relevance of content, ease of understanding and perceived acceptability to patients were collated. The findings informed the development of the next iteration of the questionnaire.The overall view of participants was that the development and application of such a tool was of great clinical value and the Lymphoedema Genito-Urinary Cancer Questionnaire (LGUCQ) has significant potential for further development as a research tool to inform prevalence of this under-reported condition.

Many women in the general population either have, or are at risk of developing, lymphoedema, which is an incurable but manageable life-long condition, which may have a devastating effect physically and emotionally. Factors that predispose women to develop lymphoedema are outlined in this article. Strategies to prevent or minimize the severity of lymphoedema are identified. The role of healthcare professionals in empowering women and promoting actions and attitudes that enable them to minimize the risk of developing lymphoedema or exacerbating established lymphoedema and facilitating coping are discussed.

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