Parton Chloe, Ussher Jane M, Perz Janette
a Translational Health Research Institute , Western Sydney University , Sydney , Australia.
Psychol Health. 2017 Sep;32(9):1109-1126. doi: 10.1080/08870446.2017.1320799. Epub 2017 Apr 26.
Many women experience premature menopause following cancer treatment, accompanied by psychological distress, and poor health-related quality of life. In this qualitative study, we examined how women construct their gendered subjectivities - their sense of self as a woman - in the context of premature menopause after cancer.
We analysed data from open-ended survey items and semi-structured interviews with women who had experienced cancer. Six hundred and ninety-five women completed the online survey and 61 took part in a semi-structured interview. A thematic decomposition was conducted to identify the subject positions associated with menopause taken up by the women.
Three overall themes were identified: 'The Incomplete Woman,' 'The Abject, Asexual Woman' and 'Out of Time and Social Isolation.' Menopause was predominantly constructed as a negative experience, similar to older post-menopausal women and dissimilar to peers, contributing to experiences of social isolation. Menopause also signified the presence of a medically diagnosed cancer condition, and uncertainty around cancer prognosis.
It is important for cancer support group leaders and other service providers to be sensitive to women's negotiation of menopause following cancer, in the context of broader cultural constructions, in order to provide appropriate information and support.
许多女性在癌症治疗后经历过早绝经，伴有心理困扰和较差的健康相关生活质量。在这项定性研究中，我们考察了女性在癌症后过早绝经的背景下如何构建其性别化的主体性——她们作为女性的自我认知。
我们分析了来自对有癌症经历女性的开放式调查问卷项目和半结构化访谈的数据。695名女性完成了在线调查，61名参与了半结构化访谈。进行了主题分解以确定女性所占据的与绝经相关的主体位置。
确定了三个总体主题：“不完整的女性”“可鄙的无性女性”和“不合时宜与社会孤立”。绝经主要被构建为一种负面经历，类似于绝经后的老年女性，与同龄人不同，这导致了社会孤立的体验。绝经还意味着存在医学诊断的癌症状况以及癌症预后的不确定性。
癌症支持小组组长和其他服务提供者必须在更广泛的文化建构背景下，对癌症后女性在绝经问题上的协商保持敏感，以便提供适当的信息和支持。
