Living With a New Normal: Self-Identities of Women With Breast Cancer in Nigeria

Overview

Journal Cancer Rep (Hoboken)

Specialty Oncology

Date 2024 Sep 23

PMID 39307941

Authors

Aisha Abimbola Adaranijo

Jimoh Amzat

Dejo Abdulrahman

Kehinde Kazeem Kanmodi

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: Breast cancer is the most prevalent cancer for women in Nigeria, representing 25% of all cancers in women. How do women self-identify with the new realities of living with breast cancer before, during and after treatment?

Aims: This study aims to examine the self-identities of 22 women with breast cancer in Nigeria.

Methods: The paper relies on grounded theory research method to collect data, analyse and capture the processes of self-identity formation.

Results: The qualitative data analysis reveals the basic social process within symbolic interactionism that describes how breast cancer survivors perceive their agency and how new self-identities emerged from the new normal of living with breast cancer. A framework of three self-identities emerged from the data: (1) valued self-identity before breast cancer, (2) dependent and determined self-identities during treatment and (3) devalued self-identity post-treatment.

Conclusion: This study should help caregivers understand the profound perpetual psycho-emotional impact that breast cancer has on sufferers and survivors.

References

Rees S . 'Am I really gonna go sixty years without getting cancer again?' Uncertainty and liminality in young women's accounts of living with a history of breast cancer. Health (London). 2017; 21(3):241-258. DOI: 10.1177/1363459316677628. View

Tompkins C, Scanlon K, Scott E, Ream E, Harding S, Armes J . Survivorship care and support following treatment for breast cancer: a multi-ethnic comparative qualitative study of women's experiences. BMC Health Serv Res. 2016; 16(1):401. PMC: 4989374. DOI: 10.1186/s12913-016-1625-x. View

Denford S, Harcourt D, Rubin L, Pusic A . Understanding normality: a qualitative analysis of breast cancer patients concepts of normality after mastectomy and reconstructive surgery. Psychooncology. 2010; 20(5):553-8. DOI: 10.1002/pon.1762. View

Rieger K . Discriminating among grounded theory approaches. Nurs Inq. 2018; 26(1):e12261. PMC: 6559166. DOI: 10.1111/nin.12261. View

Williams D, Mohammed S, Shields A . Understanding and effectively addressing breast cancer in African American women: Unpacking the social context. Cancer. 2016; 122(14):2138-49. PMC: 5588632. DOI: 10.1002/cncr.29935. View

Bury M . Chronic illness as biographical disruption. Sociol Health Illn. 1982; 4(2):167-82. DOI: 10.1111/1467-9566.ep11339939. View

Twombly R . What's in a name: who is a cancer survivor?. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2004; 96(19):1414-5. DOI: 10.1093/jnci/96.19.1414. View

Li S, Odedina S, Agwai I, Ojengbede O, Huo D, Olopade O . Traditional medicine usage among adult women in Ibadan, Nigeria: a cross-sectional study. BMC Complement Med Ther. 2020; 20(1):93. PMC: 7083039. DOI: 10.1186/s12906-020-02881-z. View

Yedjou C, Sims J, Miele L, Noubissi F, Lowe L, Fonseca D . Health and Racial Disparity in Breast Cancer. Adv Exp Med Biol. 2019; 1152:31-49. PMC: 6941147. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-20301-6_3. View

10.

Ha S, Ryu E . Perceived New Normal and Inner Strength on Quality of Life in Breast Cancer Patients Receiving Adjuvant Endocrine Therapy. Asia Pac J Oncol Nurs. 2021; 8(4):377-384. PMC: 8186385. DOI: 10.4103/apjon.apjon-2081. View

11.

Scanferla E, Fasse L, Gorwood P . Subjective experience of meningitis survivors: a transversal qualitative study using interpretative phenomenological analysis. BMJ Open. 2020; 10(8):e037168. PMC: 7443278. DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-037168. View

12.

Smit A, Coetzee B, Roomaney R, Bradshaw M, Swartz L . Women's stories of living with breast cancer: A systematic review and meta-synthesis of qualitative evidence. Soc Sci Med. 2019; 222:231-245. DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2019.01.020. View

13.

Costanzo E, Lutgendorf S, Mattes M, Trehan S, Robinson C, Tewfik F . Adjusting to life after treatment: distress and quality of life following treatment for breast cancer. Br J Cancer. 2007; 97(12):1625-31. PMC: 2360272. DOI: 10.1038/sj.bjc.6604091. View

14.

Adeniji A, Dawodu O, Habeebu M, Oyekan A, Bashir M, Martin M . Distribution of Breast Cancer Subtypes Among Nigerian Women and Correlation to the Risk Factors and Clinicopathological Characteristics. World J Oncol. 2020; 11(4):165-172. PMC: 7430856. DOI: 10.14740/wjon1303. View

15.

Ikeri N, Oguntunde O, Igbokwe U, Abdulkareem F, Banjo A . Breast Cancer in a Lagos Facility: Implications for the Institution of a Cancer Screening Programme. Pathobiology. 2018; 85(4):254-260. DOI: 10.1159/000489933. View

16.

Morse J . Responding to threats to integrity of self. ANS Adv Nurs Sci. 1997; 19(4):21-36. DOI: 10.1097/00012272-199706000-00003. View

17.

Amzat J, Grandi G . Gender context of personalism in bioethics. Dev World Bioeth. 2011; 11(3):136-45. DOI: 10.1111/j.1471-8847.2011.00310.x. View

18.

McCann L, Illingworth N, Wengstrom Y, Hubbard G, Kearney N . Transitional experiences of women with breast cancer within the first year following diagnosis. J Clin Nurs. 2010; 19(13-14):1969-76. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2702.2009.03134.x. View

19.

Lyons-Rahilly T, Meskell P, Carey E, Meade E, O Sullivan D, Coffey A . Exploring the experiences of women living with metastatic breast cancer [MBC]: A systematic review of qualitative evidence. PLoS One. 2024; 19(1):e0296384. PMC: 10769043. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0296384. View

20.

Van Bulck L, Luyckx K, Goossens E, Oris L, Moons P . Illness identity: Capturing the influence of illness on the person's sense of self. Eur J Cardiovasc Nurs. 2018; 18(1):4-6. DOI: 10.1177/1474515118811960. View