Determining Occupational Performance Issues in Women with Breast Cancer Referred to Treatment Centers of Hamadan, Iran

OBJECTIVE: Women with breast cancer experience functional limitations at the time of diagnosis and after the initial treatment of cancer. Such limitations interfere with participation in self-care, work affairs, and leisure activities. The present study aimed to determine occupational performance priorities in women with breast cancer who had referred to treatment centers in Hamadan, Iran. METHODS: In this cross-sectional, descriptive-analytical study, 102 women with breast cancer who had referred to treatment centers in Hamadan were selected through convenience sampling. The participants’ information was gathered using their medical records and a demographic information questionnaire. Then, they were interviewed using the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM) to determine their occupational performance issues. The gathered data were coded and analyzed using the SPSS statistical software, version 16. RESULTS: The results indicated that out of the 22 defined codes for the patients’ selected activities, 45.8%, 30.8%, and 23.4% belonged to self-care, productivity, and leisure domains, respectively. CONCLUSION: Women with breast cancer experience various occupational performance issues due to disease complications and received treatments. In the present study, self-care comprised the occupational performance priority. Determining the clients’ intervention priorities, which is among the bases of occupational therapy interventions, can help women with breast cancer reach the desired quality of life.