Psychoeducational intervention for patients with primary breast cancer and patient satisfaction with information: an...

The components of psychoeducational interventions which are effective in reducing psychological distress are not well known.

To examine whether increasing satisfaction with information provided by psychoeducational interventions is associated with reducing psychological distress.

The subjects were consecutively selected from breast cancer outpatients surgically treated at the National Cancer Center Hospital East in Japan. We conducted a 6-week psychoeducational intervention in 44 women with primary breast cancer. Satisfaction with information was assessed using the Visual Analogue Scale, and a hierarchical regression analysis was used to investigate the relationship between psychological distress and patient satisfaction with the information provided.

Available data were obtained in 41 patients. At 6 months after intervention, increased satisfaction with information about breast cancer (p = 0.02) and methods for coping with cancer (p = 0.04) were significantly associated with lower total mood disturbance scores.

The results suggest that offering appropriate medical and psychological information in psychoeducational interventions might increase patient satisfaction with information, resulting in lower psychological distress.