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Coping with a breast biopsy: how healthcare professionals can help women and their husbands
L L Northouse1, K M Tocco, P West
1College of Nursing, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA.
Purpose/Objective:
To examine the type of information women received from their physicians prior to breast biopsy, to describe women's and their husbands' levels of concern during this time, and to determine the type of help they want from healthcare professionals.
Design:
Descriptive.
Setting:
Homes of couples in the midwestern United States.
Sample:
300 women and 265 of their husbands interviewed approximately one week prior to biopsy.
Methods:
Interviews using a semistructured questionnaire.
Main Research Variables:
The type of information women and their husbands receive prior to biopsy, their levels of concern, and the type of help they want from healthcare professionals.
Findings:
Most women were told prior to biopsy that their breast problem needed further assessment (56%) or was probably not cancer (36%). Only a small group of women were told prior to biopsy that they definitely had cancer (2%) or that their breast problem was suspicious (5%). The majority of women and their husbands reported high levels of concern awaiting the biopsy. Women identified several ways healthcare professionals could help, including providing educational materials, shortening the time between detection and biopsy, offering support, using a personalized approach, and involving family members. Husbands identified many of these interventions but also wanted information on how to help their wives.
Conclusions:
Breast biopsy generated a high degree of concern in women and their husbands. Their concerns remained high even though many women were told that they probably did not have cancer.
Implications For Nursing Practice:
To minimize the adverse effects of a biopsy, healthcare professionals need to provide information and support, involve husbands, and shorten the biopsy waiting period.