Relationship Between Supportive Care Needs and Stigma in Women With Breast Cancer: A Cross-Sectional Study

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women. The needs of breast cancer patients have different dimensions, one of these dimensions is supportive care needs. Breast cancer patients experience some degree of social anxiety caused by stigma and negative labels from others. Considering the importance of social support and care of these patients in solving the issue of stigma, this study was conducted to investigate and compare the relationship between supportive care needs and stigma in women with breast cancer.

In this cross-sectional study, 115 women > 18 years old with breast cancer of Birjand in Iran were evaluated. Data collection was done using demographic, supportive care needs, and stigma questionnaires. Data analysis was done using SPSS 22 and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), independent samples t-test, Pearson correlation coefficient, and multiple regression analysis at a significance level of 0.05.

The average age of the studied women was 49.00 ± 10.27 years. The average total score of stigma was 17.50 ± 6.66 and the average total score of supportive care needs was 44.70 ± 12.92. Age, habitat, and education were known as the predictors of stigma (p < 0.05). Age, diagnosis time, disease stage, and stigma score were recognized as predictors of supportive care needs (p < 0.05). There was a weak and negative correlation between supportive care needs and stigma (r = 0.313; p = 0.001).

Based on the study results, the support care needs declined when the stigma score decreased. The stigma score is related to marital status, education level, job, and living alone. Age, diagnosis time, disease stage, and stigma score were known as the predictors of Care-support needs in breast cancer patients and age, habitat, and education were known as the predictors of stigma. Therefore, it seems that implementing strategies for reducing stigma in breast cancer patients can help them become more independent.