Assessment of the impact of breast cancer on women in Gombe State, Northeastern Nigeria

Abstract

Objective: The aim of the study is to assess the physical, financial, emotional and social impact of breast cancer on women in North east Nigeria.Methods: A qualitative transcendental phenomenological study design was adopted, using face-to face unstructured interview to collect data from 22 respondents who were recruited via purposive non-probability sampling technique. The interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim and further analyzed using thematic analysis method into themes and sub-themes.Results: The result revealed excruciating pains that does not abate completely as the main physical impact, expensive cost of treatment as the major financial impact and crying as the major emotional impact of breast cancer on women. However, been diagnosed with breast cancer had no any consequences on participants’ relationship with spouse or family members.Conclusion: Breast cancer causes pain, makes women to cry and the treatment is very expensive but it does not cause relationship problems. There is therefore the need for Government and Non-governmental policies to be geared towards supporting women with breast cancer to overcome these challenges.

Financial Toxicity Among Patients With Breast Cancer Worldwide

“…These studies asked patients to rate the degree of financial impact (1 study), difficulty (2 studies), or burden (3 studies) posed by breast cancer care. Four qualitative studies 28 , 40 , 41 , 42 offered representative quotations describing patient experiences, including high OOPCs, financial worry, and negative impact on patient and family financial well-being. Two other studies 43 , 44 used varied methods.…”

“…Quantitative methods included rate of patients experiencing FT (18 studies). 4 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 Qualitative methods included validated patient-reported outcome measures (PROM; 10 studies), 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 patient-reported severity of FT rated by the patient on a 3-point or 5-point scale (7 studies), 26 , 27 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 qualitative interviews (4 studies), 28 , 40 , 41 , 42 and other (2 studies). 43 , 44 A study falling into multiple categories was analyzed in all categories.…”

“…Quantitative methods included rate of patients experiencing FT (18 studies) . Qualitative methods included validated patient-reported outcome measures (PROM; 10 studies), patient-reported severity of FT rated by the patient on a 3-point or 5-point scale (7 studies), qualitative interviews (4 studies), and other (2 studies) . A study falling into multiple categories was analyzed in all categories.…”

“…Eighteen studies 4,[12][13][14][15][17][18][19][20][22][23][24][25][26][27]36,38,39 were eligible for meta-analysis, 33,34 was an economic burden score, with a mean of 2.25 to 2.94 economic burden items per patient at various times after diagnosis. The qualitative studies used interviews with patients (3 studies) 28,40,41 and/or breast cancer assistance programs representatives (1 study) 42 to understand FT impact. One study using odds ratios to compare FT between 2 adjuvant treatment groups found that patients receiving aromatase inhibitors, compared with those receiving tamoxifen, experienced higher FT rates (odds ratio, 1.4), although absolute FT rates were not reported.…”

“…Japhet et al, 40 2019, Nigeria b Patients were interviewed about the impact of BC on many aspects of their lives, including financial burden.…”