title: Patient-reported symptoms of radiation dermatitis during breast cancer radiotherapy: a pilot study.
abstract: To find out which symptoms most frequently and severely affect breast cancer patients during radiotherapy and how patients manage the symptoms and unmet needs.
  
  
  
  A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 111 patients who receive radiotherapy for breast cancer from January to April 2015 at Samsung Medical Center in Seoul, South Korea. Participants were asked about symptoms and discomfort due to radiotherapy, management methods for radiation dermatitis, unmet needs for radiation dermatitis care, and clinical and socio-demographic information.
  
  
  
  Of total, 108 out of 111 patients (97.3%) reported symptoms related to radiation dermatitis. Hyperpigmentation was the most commonly reported uncomfortable symptom followed by erythema. On average, patients reported 8.6 radiotherapy-induced skin problems (range, 0-11). Of total, 59 (53.2%) patients stated that they wanted care for radiation dermatitis, and 80.0, 59.4, and 51% of patients searched for information, used products, and visited the hospital to manage radiotherapy-related skin problems. Patients who experienced dryness, burning feelings, irritation, roughness, and hyperpigmentation were 11.73, 7.02, 5.10, 4.27, and 2.80 times more likely to have management needs than patients without those symptoms, respectively, adjusting age, current cycle of radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and type of surgery.
  
  
  
  Most of the breast cancer patients experience multiple symptoms associated with radiation dermatitis. Hyperpigmentation was the most common and uncomfortable symptom followed by erythema. Majority of patients wanted management for radiation dermatitis and patients who experienced dryness, burning feelings, irritation, roughness, and hyperpigmentation had higher needs for radiation dermatitis management.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Radiation Oncology, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, 81, Irwon-Ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, 135-710, South Korea.
authors.forename: Jieun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Departments of Radiation Oncology, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, 81, Irwon-Ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, 135-710, South Korea. wonro.park@samsung.com.
authors.forename: Won
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Departments of Radiation Oncology, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, 81, Irwon-Ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, 135-710, South Korea.
authors.forename: Doo Ho
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Departments of Radiation Oncology, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, 81, Irwon-Ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, 135-710, South Korea.
authors.forename: Seung Jae
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Huh
authors.affiliation: Cancer Education Center, Samsung Comprehensive Cancer Center, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.
authors.forename: Im-Ryung
authors.initials: IR
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Sciences and Technology, Samsung Advanced institute of health Sciences and Technology (SAIHST), Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul, South Korea.
authors.forename: Danbee
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: Cancer Education Center, Samsung Comprehensive Cancer Center, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.|Department of Health Sciences and Technology, Samsung Advanced institute of health Sciences and Technology (SAIHST), Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul, South Korea.|Department of Health, Behavior and Society, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Juhee
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cho
mesh_terms: D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D000071066:Patient Reported Outcome Measures; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D011855:Radiodermatitis / Q000209:etiology*
keywords: Breast neoplasms; Quality of life; Radiodermatitis; Radiotherapy