Information needs of breast cancer patients at cancer diseases hospital, Lusaka, Zambia

Abstract

Breast cancer is the second most common cancer worldwide and the second most common among women in Zambia. The diagnosis of breast cancer is a stressful experience; therefore information provision is one of the most important factors for providing high quality cancer care across the whole cancer continuum. Understanding the information needs of breast cancer patients is significant in improving the care. The main objective of the study was to assess information needs of breast cancer patients at the Cancer Diseases Hospital in Lusaka, Zambia. A descriptive cross sectional design was used to elicit the information needs of breast cancer patients. One hundred and ten (110) participants were selected using simple random sampling method and data was collected using a modified structured interview schedule adopted from the Toronto Information Needs Questionnaire-Breast Cancer (TINQ-BC). Stata 10.0 (StataCorp, 2008) was employed for all quantitative data analysis. Logistic regression was done to examine the effect of each independent variable on information needs with a level of significance of p< 0.05 while controlling for the confounding effects of the other co-variates. The study revealed that 80% of the 110 respondents ranked information in all the five categories as moderately important. Of the five categories, the most important information participants ranked was from the subscale of investigative tests (76.4%), followed by treatment modalities (73.6%), physical and disease information were at 71.8% and lastly psychosocial needs (70%). The Logistic Regression analysis showed that ‘levels of anxiety, University Education, Presence of co-morbidites and being on treatment were significant factors influencing information needs of cancer patients (p values <0.05). The diagnosis of breast cancer is a stressful experience; therefore information provision is one of the most important factors for providing high quality cancer care across the whole cancer continuum. Appreciating the information needs of breast cancer patients is substantial in improving care. These findings suggest that increased information supply to cancer patients can be used as a management strategy by cancer care professionals, in particular the importance of an awareness of specific patterns of communication which may improve quality of life for cancer patients. Key words: Information needs, Breast cancer, Breast cancer patients