The Level of Lymphedema Awareness among Women with Breast Cancer in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Fatmah Alsharif, Wedad Almutairi, Faygah Shibily, Fatmah Alhothari, Fidaa Batwa, Nidaa Batwa and Lujain Alharbi
Additional contact information
Fatmah Alsharif: Medical Surgical Nursing Department, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia
Wedad Almutairi: Maternity and Pediatric Nursing Department, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia
Faygah Shibily: Medical Surgical Nursing Department, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia
Fatmah Alhothari: Medical Surgical Nursing Department, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia
Fidaa Batwa: Medical Surgical Nursing Department, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia
Nidaa Batwa: Medical Surgical Nursing Department, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia
Lujain Alharbi: Medical Surgical Nursing Department, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 2, 1-10

Abstract: Background: Lymphedema is a condition in which excessive fluid accumulates in soft tissues. It is a common complication of breast cancer treatments. It can lead to serious consequences and interfere with the activity of daily living. This study aimed to determine the level of awareness of breast-cancer-related lymphedema (BCRL) among women with breast cancer in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This was a descriptive quantitative cross-sectional design that included a convenience sample of women diagnosed with breast cancer in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Data were collected by distributing a self-administrated online questionnaire consisting of four parts, including demographic data (five items), the status of education about BCRL (three items), basic medical history of breast cancer (six items), and BCRL level of awareness of risk factors and management (nine items). Results: In total, 95 out of 135 of participants did not know about lymphedema, 119 of the participants (88.1%) did not receive any explanation about the possibility of lymphedema from their medical team before surgery, and 121 of them (89.6%) did not receive it after surgery. The most significant factor affecting participants’ level of awareness regarding BCRL was the lack of information about the possibility of BCRL occurrence, which was not provided to them by the medical team. Recommendation: Early and continuous education for future management is essential to prevent problems related to BCRL and improve quality of life.

Keywords: breast-cancer-related lymphedema; level of awareness; lymphedema (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/2/627/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/2/627/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:2:p:627-:d:479608

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().