Cancer Management and Research (Jan 2021)
Information Needs of Breast Cancer Patients Attending Care at Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital: A Descriptive Study
Abstract
Birhan Legese,1 Adamu Addissie,2 Muluken Gizaw,2 Wondemagegnhu Tigneh,3 Tesfa Yilma4 1Madawalabu University, College of Health Sciences, Department of Public Health, Goba, Ethiopia; 2Addis Ababa University, College of Health Sciences, School of Public Health, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; 3Addis Ababa University, School of Medicine, Department of Oncology, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; 4Ambo University, College of Health Sciences, Department of Medicine, Ambo, EthiopiaCorrespondence: Birhan LegeseDepartment of Public Health, Madawalabu University, College of Health Sciences, Goba, EthiopiaTel +251910796908Email [email protected]: The purpose of this study was to assess the information needs of women with breast cancer attending care at a major hospital in Ethiopia. It also aimed at describing the association of information needs with sociodemographic and clinical variables, preferred sources of information, and time to have it.Patients and Methods: A hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted on 375 women with breast cancer at Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital. Data were collected by interview and Toronto information needs questionnaire for breast cancer which contains 52 items categorized under five domains was pretested, adopted, and used to address the information needs of patients. One way ANOVA was done to get an association of sociodemographic and clinical variables with information needs. All statistical analysis was performed using STATA (Version 14), and statistical significance was set at P ≤ 0.05.Results: The total mean score for overall information needs among breast cancer patients was 238.7 (22.5) with a range scale of 156– 260. Among the five subscales information on disease and information on treatment were the most highly needed areas with a mean percentage of 94.8 and 93.7, respectively; and 254 (67%) of them preferred the information to come from health professionals. Diagnosing as stage IV (p=0.0005) and urban residence (0.02) was associated with less and high information needs, respectively.Conclusion: The information needs of breast cancer patients were high. Determining what the patient’s needs are an important aspect of providing health care especially in cancer care. The healthcare system should include a way of information provision system for breast cancer patients based on their needs.Keywords: breast cancer, information needs, Ethiopia
