Aim: This qualitative study aimed to explore the experiences of pelvic floor (PF) dysfunction, and the perceived barriers and enablers to the uptake of its treatment in women with breast cancer.
Method: Purposive sampling was used to recruit 30 women with breast cancer who self-identified as experiencing PF dysfunction. Semi-structured interviews were conducted over videoconferencing and data were analysed inductively to identify emerging themes, and deductively according to the capability, opportunity, motivation and behaviour (COM-B) framework.
Results: Women were aged between 31-88 years with stage I-IV breast cancer. Participants experienced urinary incontinence (n=24/30, 80%), faecal incontinence (n=6/30, 20%) and/or sexual dysfunction (n=20/30, 67%). They were either resigned to or bothered by their PF dysfunction. Participants who were resigned felt their PF dysfunction was a low priority. Bother was driven by embarrassment of experiencing PF symptoms when in public. A barrier to accessing treatment for PF dysfunction was the lack of awareness about PF dysfunction as a side-effect of breast cancer treatments, and the lack of information available about accessing treatment for PF dysfunction. An enabler was their motivation to resuming their normal pre-cancer lives.
Conclusion: Women in this study who were bothered by PF dysfunction would like to receive information about PF dysfunction prior to starting cancer treatment, be screened for PF dysfunction during cancer treatment and be offered therapies for their PF dysfunction after primary cancer treatment.