Project Details
Abstract
Hot flash (HF) is the most frequent menopausal symptoms experienced by breast cancer
survivors after adjuvant chemotherapy or hormonal therapy for prevention of disease
recurrent. The trajectory and impact of HF have not been well studied. Using bother
subjective and objective measurements, this longitudinal study is aimed to understand the hot
flashes experience (including occurrence, severity, interference with daily function and
change pattern), and the impact of hot flashes on sleep disturbance, quality of life, and
treatment adherence in breast cancer women.
One hundred and fifty breast cancer women who meet the following criteria will be recruited:
(1) aged 18 and above, (2) has been diagnosed with breast cancer and scheduled to receive
chemotherapy or hormonal therapy, (3) has to be pre-menopausal or peri-menopausal at
diagnosis, (4) able to read or communicate with Chinese, and (5) does not have defibrillator
implanted (so that it is safe to wear sternal skin conductance monitor). Qualified patients will
be assessed at baseline (i.e., before chemotherapy), end of chemotherapy (before hormonal
therapy), and every 6 months up to 2 years after hormonal therapy. Subjective hot flashes
experience will be assessed using subjective hot flashes diary and the Hot Flash Related
Interference Scale (HFRIS). Sternal skin conductance monitor will be used to objectively
measure hot flashes frequency. Sleep disturbance will be assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep
Quality Index (PSQI) and wrist actigraph. Adherence to hormonal therapy will be assessed
using the self-reported Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS) and medication
possession ratio (MPR) computed from prescription records. Other menopausal symptoms
will be measured by the Greene Climacteric Scale (GCS) and the 18 symptoms from the
Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy for patients with Endocrine Symptoms (FACT-ES).
Quality of life will be assessed using the 28-item FACT-general that has been incorporated as
a core component in the FACT-ES. Data will be analyzed using descriptive statistics,
hierarchical linear models, and latent class analysis.
Project IDs
Project ID:PC10202-0340
External Project ID:NSC101-2314-B182-078-MY3
External Project ID:NSC101-2314-B182-078-MY3
Status | Finished |
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Effective start/end date | 01/08/13 → 31/07/14 |
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