Most prevalent unmet supportive care needs in Greek ambulatory advanced breast cancer female patients receiving chemotherapy

Abstract

Background: This cross-sectional study, supported by the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, aimed to describe the unmet supportive care needs of ambulatory advanced breast cancer female patients receiving chemotherapy and the association between patients' characteristics and their unmet needs. Methods: A convenient sample of 117 ambulatory (response rate 96%) advanced breast cancer (stage III or IV) female patients receiving chemotherapy, from two outpatient units of cancer hospitals in Attica consented to participate between July 2017 to February 2018. Patients were assessed by the translated in Hellenic language Short- Form Supportive Care Needs Survey Questionnaire: a 34 items 5-point (1-5) Likert type scale that covers five domains of need: health system and information (HIS), psychological (PS), physical (PH), care and support (CS), and sexuality needs (S). Their unmet needs were determined overall and by domain (rated 3 to 5 points). A form consisting of demographic and clinical characteristics were also collected. The level of statistical significance was set at 0.05. Results: The mean age was 62.2 (±11.3) years. Most patients were married/ partnered (47.9%) with children (84.6%), retired (56.4%), with a low income (56.4%) who had undergone antineoplasmatic treatment previously (96.6%). The mean number of unmet needs of each patient was 16.7 (±7.5) (0-34) and the median number was 18. The mean/ median number of unmet needs in each domain was PS 7.0 (±3.4) (0-10)/ 9, HIS 5.1(±3.3) (0-11)/5, PH 3.5(±1.6) (0-11)/ 4, CS 0.9 (±1.4) (0-5)/0 and S 0.4 (±0.9) (0-3)/ 0. The prevalence of the ten most frequent unmet needs was over 70% and belonged to PS (6 items) PH (3 items), and HIS (1 item) domain. None of the sample's demographic and clinical characteristics was statistically significant associated with the total need score of SCNS-SF34 or PS, PH, HIS domains (p>.050). Higher income was associated with less PS (x(3)2=9.1, p=.028) and HIS needs (F(3)=3.1, p=.029). Having children was associated with less HIS needs (t(115)=2.1, p=.042). Conclusions: The most prevalent unmet supportive care needs in our Greek sample were psychological informational and physical, but further research is needed to clarify them.