Body image perceptions of women with breast cancer undergoing antineoplastic chemotherapy (Atena Editora)

Abstract

Introduction: Research shows a significant increase in the number of cancers in the world, about 18 million new cases, 2.1 million of which are breast cancer (MATTIAS et al., 2018). The illness of the physical body, especially the breast, causes negative feelings and thoughts in women, which permeate the fear of death, treatment, and reach a place connected to being a woman, which alters their femininity, self-image and self-esteem (PISONI et al., 2013). Chemotherapy is identified as the main cause of suffering due to its side effects, mainly alopecia. (OTANI; BARROS; MARIN, 2015). Young women are the ones who suffer the most, as they generally value their image and femininity more and have expectations about their fertility (GOMES; SILVA 2013). Methods: research anchored in the Convergent Care Research (PCA) with a qualitative approach (TRENTINI, PAIM; SILVA, 2014), carried out at the chemotherapy outpatient clinic in a Hospital in Paraná, with the participation of 16 women. A semi-structured interview was used to collect information, between January and March 2020. The data were coded and processed by the free software IRAMUTEC, which generated corpus text through descendent hierarchical classification (CHD) (CAMARGO; JUSTO, 2016). Results: six classes of words and a cloud of words were generated, from which the categories emerged: self-image impaired by hair loss and impact of negative self-esteem on quality of life. Conclusion: Of the effects caused by chemotherapy, alopecia is the greatest cause of suffering among women. This knowledge subsidizes the nurse in the development of individualized care, with acceptance and humanization.