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Published on: February 6, 2020
Investigating physical symptom burden and personal goal interference in early-stage breast cancer patients
Natalie Stefanic1, Peter Caputi, Don C Iverson
1School of Psychology, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia, ns329@uowmail.edu.au.
Purpose:
Physical symptoms associated with breast cancer and its treatment can substantially interfere with functional outcomes and quality of life. The present study seeks to delineate the relationship between physical symptom burden and cancer-related goal interference in early-stage breast cancer patients.
Methods:
Self-report questionnaires were administered to 43 eligible female patients at four time-points in the 6 months following surgery for early-stage breast cancer. Physical symptoms, cancer-related goal interference, and psychological distress were assessed at each time-point. K-means cluster analysis and independent sample t tests evaluated the relationships of interest.
Results:
Women with a higher physical symptom burden experienced significantly higher goal interference and psychological distress than those with a lower burden at multiple time-points following surgery.
Conclusions:
This study provides preliminary evidence that physical symptom burden can interfere with important goal pursuit in early-stage breast cancer patients. Breast cancer survivors with ongoing challenging symptoms may require targeted psychosocial support to cope with possible goal interference and associated distress.
