Post-mastectomy Barriers for Information Seeking in Women with Breast Cancer

Abstract

Introduction: Women experience many challenges post mastectomy. Information seeking plays a key role in empowering them to do self-care, improving their quality of life and improving their health. However, individual and contextual barriers hinder their access to needed information. This research aimed to identify those barriers. Methods: This was a qualitative research using conventional content analysis. 17 women were recruited through purposive sampling in Bandar Abbas, Hormozgan Province, Iran, and semi-structured interviews were conducted among them. Results: Seven central themes were emerged to explain women's experiences of barriers in information seeking post mastectomy among which fear, shame, and inadequate literacy were individual; and economic status, physicians and healthcare personnel, lack of access to information resources and others’ behavior were contextual barriers. Conclusion: Despite the necessity of access to health information for women post mastectomy, results showed individual and contextual information seeking barriers. Hence, necessary actions should be taken by health authorities especially institutions for women health to reform and revise heath system in order to tackle information seeking barriers for women post mastectomy.

Keywords

• Information Seeking Behavior
• Women
• Breast Neoplasms
• Mastectomy