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Perspectives of Women Considering Bilateral Prophylactic Mastectomy and their Peers towards a Telephone-Based Peer Support Intervention

  • Original Research
  • Published:
Journal of Genetic Counseling

Abstract

Prophylactic mastectomy is an effective strategy to reduce the risk of breast cancer for women carrying a BRCA1/2 germline mutation. This decision is complex and may raise various concerns. Women considering this surgery have reported their desire to discuss the implications of this procedure with women who have undergone prophylactic mastectomy. We conducted a qualitative study to describe the topics covered during a telephone-based peer support intervention between women considering prophylactic mastectomy (recipients) and women who had undergone this surgery (peers), and to explore their perspectives regarding the intervention. Thirteen dyads were formed and data from participant logbooks and evaluation questionnaires were analyzed using a thematic content analysis. Three main dimensions emerged: physical, psychological, and social. The most frequent topics discussed were: surgery (92%), recovery (77%), pain and physical comfort (69%), impacts on intimacy and sexuality (54%), cancer-related anxiety (54%), experience related to loss of breasts (46%). Peers and recipients report that sharing experiences and thoughts about prophylactic mastectomy and the sense of mutual support within the dyad contributed significantly to their satisfaction. Special attention should be paid to the similarities between personal and medical profiles in order to create harmonious matches.

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Notes

  1. For more information about the Quebec Cancer Foundation‘s cancer patient peer-support service, please see: www.fqc.qc.ca

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the women who generously shared their experiences with us. We also thank Christine Desbiens, Louise Provencher, Claudia Côté, Anne-Marie Drolet, Linda Laberge and the Quebec Cancer Foundation for their help in the development and/or implementation of any of the stages of this project. Finally, we thank the Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation, which funded the study. This study formed part of the first author’s Master’s degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculté de pharmacie, Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada

    D. St-Pierre & Michel Dorval

  2. Axe oncologie, Centre de recherche du CHU de Québec-Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada

    D. St-Pierre, K. Bouchard, L. Gauthier, J. Chiquette & Michel Dorval

  3. Centre de recherche sur le cancer de l’Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada

    D. St-Pierre, K. Bouchard, L. Gauthier, J. Chiquette & Michel Dorval

  4. Faculté de médecine, Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada

    L. Gauthier & J. Chiquette

  5. Centre des maladies du sein Deschênes-Fabia, CHU de Québec-Université Laval, Hôpital du Saint-Sacrement, Québec, QC, Canada

    J. Chiquette & Michel Dorval

  6. Centre de recherche du CISSS Chaudière-Appalaches, Québec, QC, Canada

    Michel Dorval

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Conflict of Interest

D. St-Pierre, K. Bouchard, L. Gauthier, J. Chiquette, M. Dorval declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Human Studies and Informed Consent

All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000 (5). Informed consent was obtained from all patients for being included in the study.

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No animal studies were carried out by the authors for this article.

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St-Pierre, D., Bouchard, K., Gauthier, L. et al. Perspectives of Women Considering Bilateral Prophylactic Mastectomy and their Peers towards a Telephone-Based Peer Support Intervention. J Genet Counsel 27, 274–288 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10897-017-0148-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10897-017-0148-x

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