Experience of the body after reconstructive surgery for breast cancer
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Body image in younger women following mastectomy and reconstructive surgery for breast cancer – A phenomenological exploration.
IRAS ID
163747
Contact name
Amy Obradovic
Contact email
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 4 months, 5 days
Research summary
The proposed research aims to examine the impact of surgical reconstruction on the body image of younger women following mastectomy for breast cancer. Breast care nurses at St Thomas’ Hospital identified a gap in breast cancer research concerning the psychological impact of reconstructive breast surgery, with the vast majority of studies in this area reporting reconstruction as a means to ‘solving’ the body image anxieties that may be experienced by women post-mastectomy. These exclusively quantitative studies use self-report questionnaires across two or three patient cohorts (mastectomy only and mastectomy with reconstruction, or mastectomy only, mastectomy with reconstruction, and lumpectomy) to conclude that surgical reconstruction sees superior aesthetic and psychological outcomes in younger women, and women in general.
The present research, taking the Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis as its methodology, seeks to investigate breast reconstruction in isolation and explore the extent to which reconstructive surgery, far from solving the body image issues associated with mastectomy, may in fact present its own unique collection of body image concerns that may lead healthcare providers to consider offering not only differentiated support and counselling pathways for women who undergo this procedure, but also greater information fulfilment in the pre-operative stages of breast cancer treatment.
Data will be gathered through a small number of in-depth, semi-structured, one-to-one interviews, enabling each participant to provide a full and rich account as the expert in their own experience of reconstructive surgery. Interviews will be audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and subjected to detailed qualitative analysis to assess for emergent inter-account themes.
The research will be conducted at the Principal Investigator's workplace (St Thomas' Hospital) and will seek to recruit participants who, aged 43 years or younger, underwent non-prophylactic mastectomy and subsequent breast reconstruction following a breast cancer diagnosis. Participants should be at least 12 months post-surgical reconstruction to allow adequate time for healing.
REC name
North of Scotland Research Ethics Committee 1
REC reference
14/NS/1062
Date of REC Opinion
25 Sep 2014
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion