Incapacidade funcional de mulheres submetidas ao tratamento do câncer de mama

Abstract

Breast cancer shows high incidence and mortality rates. However, a considerable increase in the survival rate is observed, so that the quality of life is now considered an important public health issue. The goal of this study is to determine the prevalence of disability and associated factors in women undergoing treatment for breast cancer. It is a cross-sectional study made with 101 women living in a city named Natal, in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, diagnosed with malignant neoplasm of the breast, who underwent cancer treatment for at least one year and still remain in clinical attendance in the Northern League against cancer. The study consisted of two phases of data collection, performed with access to the medical records of patients and individual interviews. The functional capacity was measured by a questionnaire called DASH. Variables related to socioeconomic characteristics, lifestyle, health, gynecological and obstetrical history, clinical characteristics of the tumor and therapeutic approach were also collected. The bivariate analysis was performed using Pearson's chisquare test (Fisher's Exact), calculating the prevalence ratio with an interval of confidence of 95%. The multivariate analysis was performed by Poisson regression with strong variance. It was considered the statistical significance level of 0.05. The average age of the women included in the study was 56,19 years (± 10,6), which in majority were white, married or in stable relationship, with high levels of education, with an average monthly income of 3 , 88 (± 4.5) times the minimum wage and access to the overriding public health service (50.5%). The prevalence of disability was 22,8% (95% CI 13,9 to 31,6). The ductal carcinoma was the most common diagnosis among women, affecting 78,2% of the sample. Most of the patients underwent conservative surgical approach (53,5%) with axillary approach (92,1%). Late postoperative complications were reported by 71,3% of the interviewed women. Functional capacity was associated with a statistically significant manner to the age and type of access to health services. It can be concluded that younger patients had a greater impact of the treatment of breast cancer in functionality when compared to older women. About the access to health services, women who received public clinical monitoring reported higher rates of disability, which points to the need for health services more organized in your care network, less bureaucratic and effectively resolving capacity, minimizing the impact of treatment cancer in living conditions and health of survivors of breast cancer.