psychosocial care for breast cancer: physicians' perspective

background: many literatures have documented that psychosocial care can improve health outcomes and reduce morbidity in women with breast cancer. the aim of this study was to evaluate the opinion of the breast cancer professional team members on integration of psychosocial care in regular management of breast cancer. methods: a cross sectional sample of 313 physicians involving in diagnosis, treatment and supportive care for breast cancer patients were interviewed using a questionnaire. results: the majority of participants (52.7%) declared that psychosocial care is necessary for all patients with breast complaints. all except one of the respondents irrespective to their age and job believed that providing the patients with psychosocial supportive care definitively have some positive points for the patients with breast cancer. of all respondents, 29.6% thought it should be offered as soon as suspicion is raised toward breast cancer, 54.7% preferred to provide such care after the diagnosis of malignancy is confirmed, 11.3% thought it should be prescribed before surgery and 4.4% believed that care should be provided before adjuvant therapy. conclusions: the necessity of providing psychosocial care for breast cancer patients was mentioned by the majority of respondents; however there are some major differences among the team members of breast cancer care in regard to psychosocial supportive care. the results of this study highlight the insufficient collaboration among medical team members and the necessity of multidisciplinary approach to all aspects of the important disease through programmed sessions and provide the patients with an integrated comprehensive care. keywords: breast; neoplasm; physicians; psychology; psychosocial care references 1. bilimoria mm, morrow m. the woman at increased risk for breast cancer: evaluation and management strategies. ca cancer j clin 1995;45:263-78. 2. edwards ag, hailey s, maxwell m. psychological interventions for women with metastatic breast cancer. cochrane database syst rev 2004; 2:cd004253. 3. kelsey jl, bernstein l. epidemiology and prevention of breast cancer. annual review of public health 1996; 17: 47-67. 4. mousavi sm, montazeri a, mohagheghi ma, jarrahi am, harirchi i, najafi m, ebrahimi m. breast cancer in iran: an epidemiological review. breast j 2007;13(4):383-91. 5. redman s, turner j, davis c. improving supportive care for women with breast cancer in australia: the challenge of modifying health systems. psychooncology 2003; 12(6):521-31. 6. cameron ld, booth rj, schlatter m, ziginskas d, harman je, benson sr. cognitive and affective determinants of decisions to attend a group psychosocial support program for women with breast cancer. psychosom med 2005; 67(4):584-9. 7. meyer tj, mark mm. effects of psychosocial interventions with adult cancer patients: a meta-analysis of randomized experiments. health psychol 1995;   14:101-8. 8. banning m. advanced breast cancer: etiology, treatment and psychosocial features. br j nurs 2007; 16(2):86-90. 9. linn mw, linn bs, harris r. effects of counseling for late stage cancer. cancer 1982; 49: 1048-55. 10. goodwin pj, leszcz m, ennis m, koopmans j, vincent l, guther h, et al. the effect of group psychosocial support on survival in metastatic breast cancer. n engl j med 2001; 345: 1719-26. 11. kissane dw, love a, hatton a, bloch s, smith g, clarke dm, et al. effect of cognitive-existential group therapy on survival in early-stage breast cancer. j clin oncol 2004;22: 4255-60. 12. rabinowitz b. understanding and intervening in breast cancer's emotional and sexual side effects. curr womens health rep 2002; 2(2):140-7. 13. hiramanek n, mcavoy br. meeting the needs of patients with cancer. a gp guide to support services. aust fam physician 2005; 34: 365-7. 14. callahan ej, jaen cr, crabtree bf, zyzanski sj, goodwin ma, stange kc. the impact of recent emotional distress and diagnosis of depression or anxiety on the physician-patient encounter in family practice. j fam pract 1998; 46(5):410-8. 15. ghaderi i, fakhrejahani e, kaviani a, mehrdad n: iranian women's beliefs toward breast cancer: a qualitative interview study.  in proceedings of 3rd european breast cancer conference (ebcc3): march 2002; barcelona, spain. 16. friedman lc, kalidas m, elledge r, chang j, romero c, husain i, et al. optimism, social support and psychosocial functioning among women with breast cancer. psychooncology 2006; 15(7):595-603. 17. montazeri a. is quality of life data predictive of the survival in cancer patients? a rapid and systematic review of the literature. iranian journal of cancer prevention 2009; 2(1): 1-14.