Social Support to Women with Breast Cancer in a Family Medicine Unit in Mexico City

Abstract

Objective: to determine the perception of women in a follow-up with breast cancer regarding social support in a Family Medicine Unit in Mexico City. Methods: descriptive, observational, prospective and cross-sectional study in 96 women in a follow-up for breast cancer. Non-randomized sample by convenience calculated using the epi-info program. 755 cases were considered of the Family Medicine Unit no. 94 of the Mexican Institute of Social Security in Mexico City, with an expected prevalence of 50%, a worse expected of 25%, 95% confidence level and precision of 5%. The Duke-unk questionnaire was applied to quantitatively evaluate the perception of social support, and socio-demographic aspects were gathered. Descriptive statistics were used for data analysis. Results: from the total of 96 participants, 74% perceived normal social support, for this item, the confidential and affective support dimensions were normal in 80% and 90% of the cases respectively; 26% expressed that the perceived support was scarce, with confidential support of 40% and affective support of 30%. The majority of the patients (28.1%) were in the range of 61 to 70 years, 56.2% were married and 60.4% with basic education. Conclusions: in the follow-up of women with breast cancer a normal social support is mostly perceived; support which can be considered a key to better deal with this disease.