Psychological effects and meanings attributed to breast cancer by daughters of affected women

Abstract

Breast cancer is the second most common cancer in the world and is one of the biggest causes of death in women, occurring most often after 35 years old. For its high incidence in women and also for its high survival rates at present, breast cancer presents intense physical and psychological repercussions, even long time after the diagnosis and treatment. The disease has also intense impact on the dynamics and routine of the affected woman's family. There is some concern in the literature to investigate the psychological repercussions in relatives of women with breast cancer, but little is known about the psychological impact on these women's daughters. Considering that this disease seems to clearly have a genetic component and that the daughters have an increased predisposition to develop it, it is expected that daughters can experience a concern about the possibility of also contracting the disease, thus justifying the proposal of this research. This study aims to identify the meanings attributed to breast cancer and investigate the psychological impact of the disease in the daughters of affected women. This is a qualitative, descriptive-exploratory and cross-sectional study. The participants of the study will be daughters of women affected by breast cancer, linked to the Center of Education, Research and Assistance in Rehabilitation of Mastectomized Women - REMA. The number of participants will be determined by the data saturation criterion (saturation sampling). For the collection of data it will be used a semi-structured interview guide, composed of questions that allow a deep clarification of the investigated theme. The interviews will be conducted individually, in face to face situation, in preserved ambience, during one meeting or more, as needed, and they will be recorded by agreement of the participants. Then the recorded content will be transcribed literally and in full. Later, the data will be submitted to content analysis in the thematic mode. Through these procedures it is expected to achieve the objectives of the study. The investigation about the psychological impact of breast cancer in affected women's daughters allows to know the needs of these daughters, enabling support to interventions that include emotional care, in the field of prevention and health promotion with them. (AU)