A Support Group for Breast Cancer Patients: Benefits and Risks

Abstract

The aim of this study is to evaluate the results of the support group meetings organized for breast cancer patients. The period of time taken into account is one year. In the 23 meetings, there were 26 patients, 11 participating to only one meeting, while the highest rate of attendance was 19, for 2 patients. We are analyzing the number of patients who attended the support group sessions, the debated subjects, the group's structure and the patients' motivation. The profile of a frequent participant to the support group is represented by a lady with the age between 50 de 69 years old (p=0.009), married (p=0.035), with a medium level of education (p=0.038), for whom the magnitude of the operation (p=0.056), the time elapsed from the diagnosis (p=0.65), the information received from the treating physician (p=0.31) or the quality of the family support (p=0.16) did not influence the attendance.