Identifying Important Challenges of Coping with Female Breast Cancer among Iranian Spouses: A Qualitative Study

Marzieh  Jahani Sayad Noveiri; Masoud Khodaveisi; Farshid Shamsaei; Zohreh Vanaki; Leili Tapak

doi:10.18502/ijps.v17i4.10686

Marzieh Jahani Sayad Noveiri Department of Medical Surgery, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran.
Masoud Khodaveisi Chronic Diseases (Home Care) Research Center, Department of Community Health Nursing, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran.
Farshid Shamsaei Mother and Child Care Research Center, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran
Zohreh Vanaki Department of Nursing, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
Leili Tapak Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Modeling of Noncommunicable Diseases Research Center, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/ijps.v17i4.10686

Keywords: Breast Cancer; Coping; Phenomenological; Qualitative Research; Spouses

Abstract

Objective: Breast cancer is a multidimensional crisis for women and their spouses that affects every aspect of their life. Coping with this disease requires investigating and resolving the challenges faced by all those affected by it. The present study was conducted to clarify these challenges on the basis of lived experiences of the spouses of women with breast cancer.

Method: The present qualitative research performed an interpretive phenomenological analysis in Iran.Purposive sampling was employed to select twenty spouses of women with breast cancer. The data collected through unstructured face-to-face interviews were analyzed using van Manen’s method. To ensure the rigor of the study, Lincoln and Guba’s criteria were evaluated in the qualitative process.

Results: Lived experiences of the spouses of the women with breast cancer in coping with challenges included the four themes of emotional confusion, shouldering the burden of care, psychophysical suffering caused by the disease and life without cohesion.

Conclusion: Spouses of the women with breast cancer in the Iranian community faced several challenges and issues. The socioeconomic support provided by supporting organizations and medical personnel appear to help moderate these challenges and improve coping in this group.