1 Center for Health Communication and Health Services Research (CHSR), Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University Hospital, Bonn, Germany.
2 Center for Integrated Oncology (CIO), Bonn, Germany.
Am J Mens Health. 2019 Jul-Aug;13(4):1557988319870001. doi: 10.1177/1557988319870001.
The aim of this study is to explore the social support of male breast cancer patients (MBCP) in Germany. In particular, three aspects of social support focus on (a) the used resources within the social environment, (b) the received support, and (c) the differences of used social support between MBCP. A mixed-methods design is applied including data of qualitative interviews ( = 27 MBCP) and a written questionnaire ( = 100 MBCP). MBCP use different resources of support from their social environment like partners, family, friends, colleagues, other breast cancer patients, and medical experts. Mostly, MBCP receive emotional and informational support. They often receive emotional support from their partners and informational support from medical experts. Different types of social support usage can be identified dependent on age, occupation, and severity of disease. The older the patients and the less the disease severity, the less social support MBCP use. Within cancer care, partners and the closer social environment should be included more as they are a key resource for MBCP. As health-care professions might also be an important resource of support for MBCP, further research should examine this resource.
本研究旨在探讨德国男性乳腺癌患者（MBCP）的社会支持。具体而言，社会支持的三个方面侧重于：（a）社会环境中使用的资源，（b）获得的支持，以及（c）MBCP 之间使用的社会支持的差异。本研究采用混合方法设计，包括定性访谈数据（=27 名 MBCP）和书面问卷数据（=100 名 MBCP）。MBCP 从伴侣、家人、朋友、同事、其他乳腺癌患者和医学专家等社会环境中使用不同的支持资源。他们主要获得情感和信息支持。他们通常从伴侣那里获得情感支持，从医学专家那里获得信息支持。根据年龄、职业和疾病严重程度，可以确定不同类型的社会支持使用情况。患者年龄越大，疾病严重程度越低，他们使用的社会支持就越少。在癌症护理中，伴侣和更亲近的社会环境应该被更多地纳入，因为他们是 MBCP 的重要资源。由于医疗保健专业人员也可能是 MBCP 的重要支持资源，因此应该进一步研究这一资源。
