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| Author | Helen Zammit |
| Abstract | A study about 72 newly diagnosed patients with Breast Cancer was conducted over a period of 3 months. These Patients had a variety of surgical procedures namely, mastectomy, lumpectomy or biopsy of the breast. The patients were offered a variety of treatments which included Radiotherapy, Chemotherapy and Radiotherapy, or Tamoxifen. The study was divided into two parts. The first part sought to identify the psychological responses to the diagnosis of breast cancer and the reaction of the patients to mastectomy. The second part of the study sought to identify psychological responses of the patients to the different treatment modalities. Although the number of patients was small, there was some indication that patients who had a mastectomy showed a higher depression score on average in certain age groups. There was also a very clear indication that the group of patients who had aggressive treatment, had higher depression score when compared to the other two groups of patients. There was also a clear indication that patients encounter problems in the initial phase. A need was felt that a form of "coping" programme should be initiated to help these patients adapt and readjust to life. |
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| Key words | Breast Cancer, Coping, Thesis, Nursing |