RESUMO
It's widely recognized the important role that nurses can have in identifying and managing problems of various kinds resulting from the illness and treatment in survivor cancer patients, so that clinical nursing follow-up programs for cancer patients are now widely diffused internationally. The aim of the following study is the detection of the main physical, emotional, social-familial problems of women with breast cancer followed by the Italian Switzerland Breast Unit, after the end of treatment in order to better target the activation of a nursing follow-up program. This is a descriptive study. Data were collected through a questionnaire mailed to all patients who underwent surgery in the Breast Unit from 2005 to 2009 for a total of 527 patients. The statistical analysis of data was carried out on a total of 202 patients. Fatigue is the physical problem most highlighted by the sample of women (52%), followed by bone pain and / or muscle pain (45.5%) and hot flushes (44.1%). On an emotional level, fear and worry are reported by 40.1% of women, followed by sadness reported by 31.3% of women. Regarding the socio-familial aspect, one of 5 women shows working difficulties (21.2%). Statistically significant correlations are highlighted between some problems and some contextual variables (age, type of treatment, time from the end of treatment). The study has allowed to characterize this population in the specific context and to structure a nursing follow-up program which is active since January 2012.
