title: Posttreatment concerns of older women with early-stage breast cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The majority of older (aged ≥65 years) women diagnosed with breast cancer are in the early stage. However, little is known about older women's posttreatment concerns in the early stages of survivorship.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to describe posttreatment-related concerns of older, early-stage breast cancer survivors.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fifty older women who completed treatment for early-stage breast cancer participated. Participants were interviewed within the first year since diagnosis. Content analysis was used to analyze transcripts about concerns after treatment.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Older women experienced treatment-related adverse effects, but often discussed non-cancer-related concerns as being more pressing than concerns from breast cancer. Older women accepted treatment-related adverse effects as part of life and often attributed adverse effects to causes other than breast cancer. Older women also engaged in "compartmentalization," in which they separated past cancer experiences from everyday life.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Non-cancer-related concerns often overshadowed concerns from having had breast cancer. Compartmentalization was used to cope with cancer as a past, not current event.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  New insights on how older women view their disease after treatment can guide nurses in educating older breast cancer survivors about treatment-related adverse effects.
authors.affiliation: College of Nursing, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32816-2210, USA. vloerzel@mail.ucf.edu
authors.forename: Victoria Wochna
authors.initials: VW
authors.lastname: Loerzel
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Aroian
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001294:Attitude to Health; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D036301:Qualitative Research; D017741:Survivors / Q000523:psychology*