Background: Women with breast cancer undergo drastic physical changes which can impact their body image. Accepting the altered body has recently been highlighted as the key to body image improvement, however, there is no clear definition or conceptualization of it. This study clarified the concept of body acceptance in women with breast cancer, using a hybrid model.
Methods: In the theoretical phase, the attributes and working definitions of the concept were identified through an extensive literature review. Individual in-depth interviews were conducted during the fieldwork phase to elucidate the concept and verify the attributes derived from the theoretical phase. Finally, in the final analytic phase, the findings were compared and integrated.
Results: The theoretical and fieldwork phases included 20 out of the 579 articles extracted from the literature search and five women who had undergone breast cancer surgery, respectively. Body acceptance was defined as "acknowledging, normalizing, and overcoming changes in body appearance and function caused by breast cancer and its treatment".
Conclusions: Body acceptance has been identified as a key factor directly related to the overall quality of life. This study provides a theoretical basis for developing effective interventions and consequently facilitates their provision in practice.
Keywords: Body image; Breast neoplasms; Cancer survivors; Conceptualization; Female; Humans; Oncology nursing; Quality of life.
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