The fertility- and menopause-related information needs of younger women with a diagnosis of breast cancer: a qualitative study.

The use of chemotherapy and endocrine therapies in the treatment of pre-menopausal women carries with it reproductive and gynaecological implications which younger women may find both unpleasant and discordant with plans for childbearing. This study aims to investigate the fertility- and menopause-related information needs of younger women with a diagnosis of early breast cancer. A retrospective qualitative methodology was chosen. Twenty-four women aged between 26 and 45 years at diagnosis participated in focus group interviews and telephone interviews. Many women thought that the information they had received in the past about fertility and menopausal symptoms was either insufficient or unavailable. Some women felt that, while information on fertility and menopause issues had not been paramount at the time of diagnosis, it became increasingly important after diagnosis. Participants spoke about the need to revisit or review fertility- and menopause-related information with their doctors during the course of treatment. Many women believed that information about fertility should be given prior to or during treatment decision-making, and that information related to the management of menopausal symptoms should be delivered during or after treatment when menopausal symptoms begin. Consultation with a fertility and/or menopause specialist-rated as the most preferred mode of receiving fertility- and menopause-related information. Clinical implications are drawn from the results of this study to assist clinicians and researchers to improve their communication with younger patients about the fertility- and menopause-related side effects of breast cancer treatment.

Thewes B ，Meiser B ，Rickard J ，Friedlander M ... -  《PSYCHO-ONCOLOGY》

Fertility- and menopause-related information needs of younger women with a diagnosis of early breast cancer.

Thewes B ，Meiser B ，Taylor A ，Phillips KA ，Pendlebury S ，Capp A ，Dalley D ，Goldstein D ，Baber R ，Friedlander ML ... -  《-》

The influence of endocrine effects of adjuvant therapy on quality of life outcomes in younger breast cancer survivors.

Knobf MT 《-》

[Sexual functioning and information needs in women with premature menopause following breast cancer treatment].

Mannor B ，Zohar H 《-》

Younger and older women's concerns about menopause after breast cancer.

A number of treatments for breast cancer induce menopause. This study's aim was to explore women's perceptions and beliefs about menopausal symptoms and their management following breast cancer, and to compare younger and older women's experiences. Data were collected via semi-structured focus groups from women who had undergone treatment for breast cancer, and who were currently experiencing menopausal symptoms. Data were interpreted by way of simple inductive thematic analysis. The women experienced a range of menopausal symptoms that they were not prepared for and found difficult to manage. The central themes related to their lack of knowledge of how to manage menopausal symptoms, and the distress and helplessness that arose from this. Women who were diagnosed prior to 40 years of age reported additional menopausal issues than women who were older at diagnosis. The women in this study expressed a thirst for information related to menopause after breast cancer. The women identified that their needs with regard to menopause after breast cancer were not being met, either through their own lack of knowledge or via conflicting or absent support and management. The importance of enabling women to deal with menopausal symptoms was a central theme to emerge from the data.

Anderson DJ ，Yates P ，McCarthy A ，Lang CP ，Hargraves M ，McCarthy N ，Porter-Steele J ... -  《-》