Department of Plastic Surgery, Radboudumc, Geert Grooteplein-Zuid 10, 6500 HB, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Research Center Healthy and Sustainable Living, Research group Innovation in Healthcare Processes in Pharmacology, University of Applied Sciences Utrecht, Heidelberglaan 7, 3584 CS, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
J Cancer Surviv. 2021 Apr;15(2):224-233. doi: 10.1007/s11764-020-00926-3. Epub 2020 Aug 20.
The purpose of this research was to explore women's experiences after breast surgery with scar characteristics and symptoms, and its impact on their health-related quality of life (HRQOL).
A qualitative study using semi-structured face-to-face interviews was conducted among women following prophylactic, oncologic, or reconstructive breast surgery in the Netherlands. A directed content analysis was performed using guiding themes. Themes were "physical and sensory symptoms," "impact of scar symptoms," "personal factors," "impact of scar interventions," and "change over time."
The study population consisted of 26 women after breast surgery. Women experienced a wide range of symptoms like adherence, stiffness, pain, and uncomfortable sensations. Scar characteristics as visibility, location, texture, and size, influenced satisfaction with their appearance. The impact of scar symptoms is reflected in physical, social, emotional, and cognitive functioning, thereby affecting HRQOL. The experienced impact on HRQOL depended on several factors, like personal factors as the degree of acceptance and environmental factors like social support.
Women can experience a diversity of scar characteristics and symptoms, which play a central role in the perceived impact on HRQOL. Since scarring can have a considerable impact on HRQOL, scarring after prophylactic, oncologic and reconstructive breast surgery should be given more attention in clinical practice and research.
Considering scarring as a common late effect after breast surgery and understanding the variety of experiences, which could impact HRQOL of women, can be beneficial in sufficient information provision, expectation management, and informed decision making.
本研究旨在探讨女性乳房手术后的疤痕特征和症状及其对健康相关生活质量（HRQOL）的影响。
在荷兰，对接受预防性、肿瘤性或重建性乳房手术后的女性进行了一项定性研究，采用半结构式面对面访谈。使用指导主题进行定向内容分析。主题为“身体和感官症状”、“疤痕症状的影响”、“个人因素”、“疤痕干预的影响”和“随时间的变化”。
研究人群由 26 名乳房手术后的女性组成。女性经历了各种症状，如粘连、僵硬、疼痛和不适感觉。疤痕特征，如可见度、位置、质地和大小，影响了对外观的满意度。疤痕症状的影响反映在身体、社会、情感和认知功能上，从而影响 HRQOL。所经历的对 HRQOL 的影响取决于几个因素，如个人因素（如接受程度）和环境因素（如社会支持）。
女性可能会经历多种疤痕特征和症状，这些特征和症状对感知到的 HRQOL 影响起着核心作用。由于疤痕可能对 HRQOL 产生重大影响，因此应在临床实践和研究中更加关注预防性、肿瘤性和重建性乳房手术后的疤痕形成。
将疤痕视为乳房手术后的常见晚期效应，并了解可能影响女性 HRQOL 的各种体验，可以在充分的信息提供、期望管理和知情决策方面带来益处。
