A study of women's experiences of brachytherapy for cervical cancer
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Development of an intervention to reduce distress caused by brachytherapy for locally advanced cervical cancer. Exploratory phase part two: patient interviews
IRAS ID
256311
Contact name
Pauline Humphrey
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of the West of England
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 11 months, 31 days
Research summary
Research Summary
Brachytherapy for cervical cancer is a type of internal radiation therapy where a number of applicators are placed inside the cervix and vagina and a radioactive source is passed into the applicators to deliver a dose of radiation to kill cancer cells. There are currently 41 Radiotherapy centres carrying out brachytherapy for cervical cancer in the UK.In the first part of the exploratory phase of this study a UK Survey of brachytherapy practice was carried out. This provided detailed information about current service provision across the UK. The survey provided data about treatment regimes, duration of brachytherapy procedures, anaesthetics and pain management and current provision of support to women, before during and after brachytherapy. Data from the survey has helped to select appropriate centres to participate in the patient interview phase and has contributed to development of the second part of the exploratory phase: patient semi-structured interviews.
The aim of this part of the study is to explore women’s experiences of brachytherapy at two time points after brachytherapy and understand the meaning of their experiences, including what worked well and what they think could be improved.
Up to 20 women will be interviewed soon after completion of brachytherapy to give a detailed recall of their recent experience of brachytherapy. Up to 20 women will be interviewed approximately one year after brachytherapy to see if they are experiencing any distress or anxiety that may relate to their previous experience of brachytherapy and any impact on their wellbeing.
It is anticipated that women’s experiences will be quite varied, and they will report what was difficult about brachytherapy and what strategies or interventions helped them. Knowledge and understanding of these experiences will help to develop an intervention to reduce distress caused by brachytherapy in the second phase of this research programme.
Summary of Results
Aims
To explore women’s experiences of brachytherapy and their views on improvements.Background
Brachytherapy for gynaecological cancer is reported to cause pain, anxiety and distress with no clear guidance for optimising women’s experiences.Methods
Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with women who received brachytherapy for locally advanced cervical cancer at one of four UK sites. Two cohorts were recruited: cohort one had recently had brachytherapy, cohort two were a year post brachytherapy. Consecutive patients were invited to interview. Participants were invited to retell their brachytherapy story, with views on their care and ideas for improvement also explored. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed and data analysed using reflexive thematic analysis (Braun and Clarke, 2019).Results
Thirty five interviews were conducted (20 cohort one and 15 cohort two). Age ranged from 28 to 87 years. Interview duration ranged from 22 to 78 minutes. Difficult and traumatic experiences were reported, including periods of severe pain and perceptions of poor care. However, some described positive experiences and what went well. Three themes were developed:
1) How I got through it
2) Unpleasantness, discomfort and the aftermath
3) Emotional consequences and traumaConclusions
Whilst some women had generally positive experiences, some aspects of care could be improved to minimise difficult and traumatic experiences of brachytherapy. Study insights will inform future work to develop clinical care recommendations.REC name
West of Scotland REC 3
REC reference
19/WS/0080
Date of REC Opinion
29 May 2019
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion