[Compliance in adjuvant chemotherapy]

The study presented deals with the issue of therapy compliance on the example of female patients with breast carcinoma, who had received adjuvant chemotherapy. Catamnestic results are reported for 44 patients who had answered a complaints questionnaire and participated, additionally, in unstructured interviewing on the problems and strain experienced during and following therapy. The study group consisted of 10 women who had dropped out of treatment, and 34 women who had followed the treatment as scheduled. The physical and emotional strain found are reported, and discussed from the perspective of therapy compliance. Of particular interest in this context is the doctor-patient-relationship, i.e. the question of how the patients' subjective considerations and medical cost-benefit calculations could be heeded in as open and trustful an exchange between doctor and patient as possible.