The Effects of Cosmetic Care on Body Image in Young Chinese Breast Cancer Patients Receiving Chemotherapy

Background: The diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer may still bring severe psychological trauma to women. Cosmetic care is an effective measure to enhance patients' psychosocial functioning, which can help cancer patients cope with disfigurement-related adverse effects. Objectives: This study aimed to explore the effects of cosmetic care on body image (BI), and social avoidance and distress (SAD) in young Chinese breast cancer patients, aged 18-40 years old, receiving adjuvant chemotherapy. Study design: This was a prospective, 2-arm quasi-experimental study, comprising two groups: the controlled group and the interventional group. In order to avoid interference, the two groups of participants were recruited at different periods. The control group was recruited from Jan 2015 to Mar 2015, and the intervention group was recruited from January 2016 to September 2017. All participants came from the department of a breast surgery in Shanghai, China. Control condition: Participants in the control group received usual care during adjuvant chemotherapy. Intervention: Participants in the intervention group received cosmetic care in combination with usual care. Ethical approval: Ethical approval of this study was obtained from the ethical committee of a cancer center in Shanghai. The approval number was 1403132-2. Informed consent was explained to the participants and the forms were signed by them. Data analyses: The IBM SPSS 22.0 was used to analyze all the data.