Trends and Tasks in Nursing Research on Breast Cancer Patients Receiving Breast-Conserving Surgery

Objectives : Nursing Research trends and topics were analyzed based on publications dealing with breast cancer patients who underwent breast-conserving surgery published between 1999 and 2008 in Japan. Methods : A search was carried out using "Japana Centra Revuo Medicina" with "breast cancer", "nursing", "breast-conserving surgery" and "breast-conserving therapy (BCT)" as key words, and the design, methods, and contents of research were analyzed. Results : There were 49 papers, and the quantitative research accounted for more than half (53.1%). The most frequent research design was the factor-exploring type (57.1%). Research topics were divisible into 5 categories : psychological changes and stress coping in breast cancer patients (18 codes : 36.7%), prevention and influence for life of functional disorder attended treatment (7 codes, 14.3%), factors affecting selection of treatment and QOL (8 codes, 16.3%), giving information related treatment and requirement for support (5 codes, 10.2%), and development of nursing intervention programs and evaluation of caring practice (11 codes, 22.4%). Discussion : These results indicate two trends in this research field, i.e., evaluation of the mental and physical influences of breast-conserving surgery and continued treatment from the viewpoint of QOL, and interventional research with nursing interventional programs targeted at management of psychological problems experienced by breast cancer patients.It is desirable that more numbers of interventional studies are carried out henceforth in order to develop valid interventional programs based on evaluation of the data collected through such studies.