Perceived control and hot flashes in treatment-seeking breast cancer survivors and menopausal women.

BACKGROUND

Lower perceived control over hot flashes has been linked to fewer coping strategies, more catastrophizing, and greater hot flash severity and distress in midlife women, yet this important concept has not yet been studied in breast cancer survivors.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to explore perceived control over hot flashes and hot flashes in breast cancer survivors compared with midlife women without cancer.

METHODS

Ninety-nine survivors and 138 midlife women completed questionnaires and a prospective, electronic hot flash diary. All data were collected at a baseline assessment before randomization in a behavioral intervention study.

RESULTS

Both groups had moderate perceived control over hot flashes. Control was not significantly related to hot flash frequency but was significantly related to hot flash severity, bother, and interference in both groups. A significantly stronger association between control and hot flash interference was found for survivors than for midlife women. Survivors using hot flash treatments perceived less control than did survivors not using hot flash treatments, whereas the opposite was true in midlife women.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings extend our knowledge of perceived control over hot flashes in both survivors and midlife women.

IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE

Findings emphasize the importance of continued menopausal symptom assessment and management, support the importance of continuing nursing care even for survivors who are already using hot flash treatment, and suggest that nursing interventions aimed at improving perceived control over hot flashes may be more helpful for survivors than for midlife women.