Effectiveness of Peer Support on Quality of Life in Recently Diagnosed Breast Cancer Patients

Effectiveness of Peer Support on Quality of Life in Recently Diagnosed Breast Cancer Patients - a Randomized Trial

This study examines effectiveness of peer support of breast cancer patients. Half of the participants received peer support via telephone in addition to usual care and another half are give the usual care only.

Seriously sick people need social support to maintain their quality of life. Social support may be given by peers, who have experienced the same.

In this study voluntary participants with recently diagnosed breast cancer were randomly allocated to intervention (N=130) or control (N=130) group. The intervention group received, in addition to usual care, peer support via telephone 1-5 times according to their own preference. The control group received usual care only. Peer support was given by volunteered breast cancer survivors who were educated for giving peer support.

Inclusion Criteria:

• recently diagnosed primary breast cancer
• no other serious illnesses
• ability to communicate in Finnish or Swedish (official languages in Finland)
• ability to fill in the questionnaires

Exclusion Criteria:

• some other serious illnesses
• inability to communicate in Finnish or Swedish (official languages in Finland)
• inability to fill in the questionnaires