A study on the Quality and Compliance of Breast Cancer Patients in Single Center Hospital Indonesia: Impact of Coronavirus Disease-19 Pandemic

Abstract

BACKGROUND: In Indonesia, especially in Surakarta, the emergence of the Coronavirus Disease (COVID)-19 pandemic made breast cancer survivors unable to continue their therapy schedule or follow-up due to lockdown rules in their residence area. Some survivors had confirmed COVID-19, or the health services began to limit their treatment of patients. Breast cancer itself is not an emergency case.

AIM: This research is to see the behavior patterns of breast cancer survivors in Surakarta using the UNS-CASKQ14 questionnaire, whether there is anxiety about contracting COVID-19 or cancer itself that eliminates the fear of COVID-19.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study used the Indonesian version of the UNS-CASKQ14 questionnaire on 88 breast cancer survivors through the Google Form application from December 2020 - February 2021.

RESULTS: The level of understanding about COVID-19 correlated with the level of education (p 0.019; r 0.429). The level of understanding also correlated with the type of financing (p 0.016; r 0.318). There was a correlation between the level of education and the level of knowledge about the therapeutic program that had to be undertaken (p 0.007; r 0.472). The financing factor used by the respondents to undergo a therapy program also affects them (p 0.028; r 0.248). The behavior of survivors during the pandemic had a statistically significant correlation to the level of education (p 0.032; r 0.313). There was a correlation with the type of financing (p 0.027; r 0.323).

CONCLUSION: The high understanding of the COVID-19 pandemic made 97.9% of survivors afraid of contracting COVID-19, thus affected changes in behavior patterns and gave psychological effects in undergoing therapy during the pandemic.