Background: Breast cancer is the most common cancer among females, and surgery plays a central role in its treatment. Surgical treatments may have a negative psychological impact on women's mental health regarding their body image. The purpose of this study was to compare the psychological health insights pertaining to objectified body consciousness scores before and after the surgery and also to observe whether these scores were comparable across the surgery types.
Materials and methods: This retrospective analysis of prospectively maintained data included 706 breast carcinoma patients who underwent either Breast Conservation Surgery or Modified Radical Mastectomy at tertiary care Cancer Centre, between the years 2020 to 2021. A validated questionnaire of Objectified Body Consciousness was used to obtain responses at diagnosis and at 6 months postsurgery and final scores were calculated for both instances. Two sample t-tests/analysis of variance and Chi-square tests were used to compare continuous and categorical variables respectively.
Results: Out of total 706 breast cancer patients, 402 patients underwent Breast Conservation Surgery and 304 underwent Modified radical mastectomy procedure. A statistically significant change was seen in the mean Objectified Body Consciousness Score (14.22 ± 15.44) for all patients when compared preoperatively(72.72 ± 11.38) and postoperatively(60.15 ± 17.58). This change was higher in the Modified Radical Mastectomy group(29.38 ± 11.53). Also, statistically significant rise in scores was seen with increasing age.
Conclusion: We could affirmatively conclude in our study that younger breast cancer patients and all patients who underwent a Modified Radical Mastectomy, had more psychological apprehension with the body image postsurgery, signifying these groups should be encouraged by healthcare professionals to reach out for counselling at the earliest.
Keywords: Breast surgery; Femininity; Reconstruction.
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