Evaluation of Illness Perception of Women with Breast Cancer in Turkey

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study is to examine the illness perceptions of women with breast cancer and possible relationships between these perceptionsand descriptive characteristics such as sociodemographic and clinical characteristics in Turkey.Materials and Methods: The study was conducted in compliance with correlational, descriptive research principles. Three hundred eightywomen with breast cancer who were treated in various hospitals in seven regions of the country were included in the study. A sociodemographic andclinical characteristics form, and The Illness Perception Questionnaire were used for data collection.Results: The mean age of the patients with breast cancer was 49.8±11.5, among them, 83.95% were married, 37.37% were at stage 2 breast cancer,and 67.11% experienced mastectomy. It was found that the patients perceived higher personal control over illness (20.88±4.76). The patients perceivedmost common risk factors as the cause of the illness (19.42±6.38). This study show that variety sociodemographic and clinical characteristicsof the patients affected their perceptions of illness.Conclusion: The meaning of illness from the perspective of patient with breast cancer should be assessed. The care, education and counsellingprograms should be planned according to the patient's illness perceptions.