Table 2.
Characteristics of Studies Reporting QoL of Breast Cancer Survivors.
| Authors | Year | Country | Data collection methods | Phenomena of Interest | Population | Main Finding |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| McClelland 1 | 2015 | USA | Semi-structured interviews | sexual quality of life | Metastatic breast cancer | (1) Unexpected embodied loss and mourning; (2) silences; (3) desires for others’ expertise, and (4) worries about normalcy. Findings across these themes highlighted how patients’ psychosexual needs included both pressing instrumental needs as well as desires for support from oncological medical providers concerning the subjective experience of breast cancer. |
| Lee Mortensen 2 | 2018 | Denmark | Focus group interviews | physical and psychosocial functioning | Metastatic breast cancer | a shift in expectations from quantity to quality of life and a perpetual adaptation of their QoL standards. |
| Ginter 3 | 2020 | USA | Semi-structured interviews | Facing off-time diagnoses, strategizing disclosure, relying on mindfulness and spirituality, contemplating the future, and differentiating surviving fom truly living. | Metastatic breast cancer | The notion of short-term or long-term decisionmaking is clouded by a metastatic prognosis. |
1McClelland, S.I., “I wish I’d known”: patients' suggestions for supporting sexual quality of life after diagnosis with metastatic breast cancer. Sexual and Relationship Therapy, 2015.
2Lee Mortensen, G., et al., Quality of life and care needs in women with estrogen positive metastatic breast cancer: a qualitative study. Acta Oncol, 2018. 57(1): p. 146-151.
3Ginter, A.C., “The day you lose your hope is the day you start to die”: Quality of life measured by young women with metastatic breast cancer. J Psychosoc Oncol, 2020. 38(4): p. 418-434.