Assessment of body image in women after surgery for breast cancer

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the body image of women after the surgery of breast cancer. Methods: Thirty-nine women were single time evaluated with more than 6 months after the breast cancer surgery in the body image aspect. The Askevold test was applied to verify how these women would represent their image. The images were obtained with the self-image of the participants through the perception of specific anatomic structures through the reminder of the body image in a mirror. Results: The obtained results with the body image drawings point out that 77% of the women show body image distortion regardless the age and types of surgery. Only 9 of the 39 participants came close to the model described by Askevold, that in this particular paper was considered normal. Conclusions: The graphical representation of body image is a possibility of evaluating the image that the woman has of herself in the post-operative breast cancer.