Avaliação da qualidade de vida de pessoas com neoplasia de mama em condições de paliação

Abstract

This research about the life quality of palliative cancer patients is relevant for allowingthe expansion of studies that are concerned with improving the lives of those Who haven’t expectation of cure. Aimed to evaluate the life quality of people with breastcancer, admitted to a reference hospital for the treatment of oncological diseases, underpalliative conditions. It’s about a descriptive cross-sectional study with a quantitativeand qualitative approach. The population consisted of 25 women with breast cancer,admitted to the Oncologic Ward of the Ulisses Pinto Cancerology Center of ParaíbaAssistance Foundation Hospital (FAP). Data collection was performed from November16, 2018 to January 31, 2019. The research instruments were a sociodemographicquestionnaire, the EORTC QLQ-C15-PAL questionnaire, and an interview. Theparticipants selection was performed by consulting the medical records that containedthe prescription “palliative care” as conduct. Data from the sociodemographic profilewere processed with the assistance of Excel and demonstrated using descriptivestatistics. EORTC QLQ-C15-PAL data were processed and analyzed according to theguidelines contained in the Manual: EORTC QLQ-C15-PAL score. And the interviewanalyzed using the analysis of Bardin’s enunciation. The project complied with theResolution 466/12 of the National Health Council, which deals with research withhuman beings, and was approved by the FAP Hospital Research Center and by theResearch Ethics Committee of the Alcides Carneiro University Hospital. The results ofthe various instruments used confirm each other and show that breast cancer has aprevalence in women with low income and low level of education. Breast cancer is adisease that directly affects the quality of life because it prevents the person fromperforming all their activities. The person starts to live due to the disease, becomingincreasingly dependent on other people, which contributes to affect self-esteem andpsychological state. The dynamics of their lives change with the limitation of physicalspaces and social life, as their homes or hospital are summarized. Their bodies changedwith breast removal which for some caused a great impact and sadness. Pain was themost prevalent symptom, being the main reason for hospitalizations. Chemotherapy wasthe most used treatment, followed by mastectomy. All reported experiencing sideeffects from the treatments used. Faith in God and resilience were reported as supportsto find strength and motivation to deal with the disease and want to continue living. Inconclusion, with this work we emphasize the need for the implementation of CP inhospitals, by training all professionals involved in the care of patients in theevolutionary process of the disease until the end of their life, because knowledge of thispractice increases the level empathy which is a basic condition for the humanization ofcare and improving patients’ QoL.