Introduction
The occurrence of breast cancer in Asian women is very frequent due to multiple reasons. It has been reported that breast cancer is a very common disease, and almost 14.3% of women suffer from it. Asian women who suffer from this disease go through many psychological and physical problems during the treatment. The rate of breast cancer among Asian women is increasing day by day, which has led to various concerns about the healthy future and well-being the women in this population. Breast cancer is a disease which is also affecting racial and ethnic communities in the US. Different studies on breast cancer have significance in establishing new factors to prevent and control the occurrence of disease in the larger proportion of women population. Moreover, studying the main issue helps in developing solutions to assist the community in reducing habits which cause a high incidence of this disease (McCracken, et al., 2007).
Out of various problems in post-surgical period, lymphedema is considered as the most common problem faced by women that are developed after radiation and removal therapy of lymph nodes. It is among one of the most chronic diseases which occur in most of the women with breast cancer. It is reported that 80% of the women suffer from lymphedema within the initial two years after the treatment. The lymphedema is followed by many symptoms that include numbness, pain, stiffness, weakness and impairment of shoulder and arm and it has been reported that these symptoms badly affect the quality of life of those women. Many types of research have been done to prevent lymphedema, and various types of therapy are introduced to manage it, which include physiotherapy, exercise therapy, weight lifting, aqua therapy, breathing exercises, dance, and aerobics. Exercise is said to be very helpful therapy as improving physical activities after the diagnosis of the disease helps in recovery. Through exercise therapies, the occurrence of lymphedema slows down and morbidity in the upper body after breast cancer treatment in women. The evidence suggests that there is further need for the development of strategies for educational and clinical practices in the field of nursing for breast cancer care.
Purpose
The most common therapy or physical activity recommended to the women after the surgery of breast cancer is exercise. It is crucial and challenging as well to adopt safe modes of exercise seeking the help of some professionals to make the quality of life better. It has been reported that both patients and health professionals have difficulties in practicing safe modes of exercises that could attain positive results. The purpose of the study is to carry out a systematic review of different studies that have been carried out by researchers and provided findings related to the effectiveness of different types of exercise that professionals prescribe that could have a positive impact on women, particularly among Asian ethnic groups after the breast cancer surgery.
Methods
The study will follow the guidelines as a basis for conducting systematic reviews proposed by National Evidence-based Healthcare Collaborating Agency. The study will select peer-reviewed journal articles from electronic databases including PubMed, Science Direct, EBSCOhost, Proquest, and BioMed Central. The study will select 20 journal articles from the search of keywords in the selected databases. These keywords may include breast surgery exercise, breast surgery Asian women, breast surgery lymphedema, breast surgery lymphedema exercise problems, and much more.
Concepts and Phenomena
The concepts and phenomena regarding the proposed study include those of exercise, lifestyle, healthcare, and risks related to lymphedema after breat cancer surgery. The proposed study will focus on issues related to service in Asian women who have breast cancer. Breast cancer in Asian women is the investigated phenomena which information related to the factors will be systematically reviewed to establish a relationship between concepts and the phenomena.
PICOT questions
The PICOT question in the field of nursing is known as the systematic, consistent way to identify the components of clinical issues. PICOT questions are very important to elaborate important points of a study or research. The study question will be designed on the basis of an important concept called PICO which is the abbreviation for patient or individuals, interventional steps, comparator, and outcomes. The PICOT questions which will be conducted in the study will cover all the important point and main focus of the study which will help to clarify any queries related to the study proposed for the patients of breast cancer specially for women.
The PICOT question for the Asian women suffering from breast cancer is
P: Patient: what is the criteria of the patients to be included in this study?
I: Intervention: what should be the post surgical interventions concerning the women suffering from breast cancer?
C: comparator: what should be the other intervention without exercise or no intervention?
O: Outcome: what are further outcomes related to the disease?
The inclusion criteria of this study related to the breast cancer in Asian women will be including such women who will be diagnosed with the breast cancer and the women who already went through any surgery during that period. It will also include the patients with breast cancer who took any intervention which will be published in any book or journal in Korean or English language. The exclusion criteria of this proposed study will includ non-human studies, unoriginal content concerning literature reviews or secondary sources, not dealing with the patients of breast cancer postoperatively, not comparing exercise effectiveness with the control therapies and not assessing proper health outcomes.
P: Patient: what is the criteria of the patients to be included in this study?
The study will include Asian women suffering from breast cancers. The exclusion and inclusion criteria which are previously discussed will be concerned. The patients must be willing to be involved in this study research are also mandatory.
I: Intervention: what should be the post surgical interventions concerning the women suffering from breast cancer?
One of the best intervention which will be concerned regarding this disease is exercise. Exercise serve as the best post-surgical therapy which will allow the patients to improve their physical and mental quality of life and will provide better health care to them. Trained professional nurses will be consulted in such conditions to train and manage stressed breast cancer patients.
C: Comparator: what should be the other intervention without exercise or no intervention?
Other interventions such as physiotherapy, breathing exercise, counseling also helps a lot in treating the post-surgical patients. With the physical wellbeing of the patient, it is also critical to manage the mental health of the patient and to build up their will power through exercise, which will make their future bright and will make them inspiration for others too.
O: Outcome: what are further outcomes related to the disease?
Any further outcomes of the breast cancer will be concerned thoroughly which are related to lymphedema and upper arm morbidity. Lymphedema is a very dangerous post-surgical outcome which should not be avoided.
Discussion
The given criteria of the research will focus much on English language and Korean language and on the Asian women who suffer from breast cancer. Mainly the effectiveness of exercise interventions should be assessed and determined in this study. However, some studies focus more on the reasonable input, estimated outcomes, manpower and measuring points which will also be concerned in upcoming populations and patients while determining the effective exercise intervention therapies for the women with breast cancer treatment. Several kinds of exercises will be incorporated which be conducted by professionals, trained and qualified nurses. Supervision of professional nurses has a major role on health pointers and a higher adherence rate. It will make sure to be very effective in the short period in improving lymphedema in the one-year time span.
Conclusion
The study proposed will conduct several exercises in the Asian women with breast cancer t make their physical and mental health better. Post-surgical follow-up will be regular to avoid any worst conditions after the surgery. It will be proved in future through conducting this study exercise is very beneficial and effective for the physical and mental well-being of women with breast cancer. The duration, amount, efficiency, and target health outcomes of the exercise will be more focused. More languages will be included in the databases which will help in improving further studies. The proposed study will be very beneficial for the women with breast cancer and also for the women suffering from post-surgical outcomes of breast cancer such as lymphedema.
Reference
McCracken, M., Olsen, M., Chen, M. S., Jemal, A., Thun, M., Cokkinides, V., . . . Ward, E. (2007). Cancer incidence, mortality, and associated risk factors among Asian Americans of Chinese, Filipino, Vietnamese, Korean, and Japanese ethnicities. CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, 57(4), 190-205.
