ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION AND AIM:

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among Turkish women, accounting for 24.1% of all cancer in women. The loss of a breast by reason of mastectomy applied for treatment of breast cancer causes signifi cant psychosocial problems among women. Aim of this study is to investigate the eff ect on body image, self-esteem and marital adjustment of mastectomy in women with breast cancer.

METHOD AND MATERIALS:

This research was carried out retrospectively and analytic by way of comparing a group of women with mastectomy with a healthy control group bearing similar attributes. The sample of study included in 52 women who undergone mastectomy in General Surgery Department of Turgut Özal Medical Center between the dates January 1st 2002 and August 31st 2006 and 52 women with healthy. Data were collected by using questionnaire forms for women with mastectomy and healthy, Body Cathexis Scale (BCS), Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale (RSS) and Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS).

FINDINGS:

According to the mean total scores obtained from BCS, RSS and DAS; body image, self-esteem and marital adjustment of women with mastectomy was signifi cantly lower than in women with healthy (p<0.001).

CONCLUSION:

It was determined that mastectomy caused negatively impact on body image, self-esteem and marital adjustment in women with breast cancer.