Supportive care needs of Iranian Breast cancer Patients

Introduction & Aim: To determine unfulfilled needs of patients in breast cancer can make planing for appropriate interventions based on the needs of individuals. Therefore, This research was conducted to determine the protective care needs of women with breast cancer under chemo-therapy and radiotherapy.Methods: The present study is a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted on 190 women with breast cancer in Arak-Iran, by the convenience sampling method from January to July 2017. Patients were evaluated by Socio-Demographic and Disease Questionnaire, Perceived Illness Questionnaire (PIQ) and Supportive Care Needs Survey Short Form (SCNS-SF34). Data were analysed using SPSS ver.21, one-way ANOVA, Chi square, independent t-test, Pearson correlation coefficient and multivariate linear regression. Results: The mean age of patients was 46.9 (8.8) years. Most research units were married, 83.1% were Housewives and 40% had primary and secondary education. The mean (SD) score of supportive care needs was 100 (31.9) (range from 34-170). There was no significant difference in terms of supportive care needs between patients in the chemotherapy and radiotherapy groups (p> 0.05). The highest needs of patients were in the psychological, health-information and physical system domain , respectively with mean of 31.3 (12.5) , 36.0 (12.5), 14.9 (5.8). Multivariate linear regression analysis showed that family income and perception of illness were predictors of supportive care needs. Conclusion: Health care providers need to pay particular attention to the psychological needs, the health and information system and the physical and physical health of women with breast cancer and predictive factors, and based on these priorities, to establish their own health care.