Bruno Quintard

THE BODY-IMAGE QUESTIONNAIRE: AN EXTENSION

The 19-item Body-Image Questionnaire, developed by our team and first published in this journal in 1987 by Bruchon-Schweitzer, was administered to 1,222 male and female French subjects. A principal component analysis of their responses yielded an axis we interpreted as a general Body Satisfaction dimension. The four-factor structure observed in 1987 was not replicated. Body Satisfaction was associated with sex, health, and with current and future emotional adjustment.

Assessing the effect of beauty treatments on psychological distress, body image, and coping: a longitudinal study of patients undergoing surgical procedures for breast cancer

Introduction: Women with breast cancer may have significant problems adjusting to disease and therapy due to their association with significant changes in body image and sexuality. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of beauty treatments in combination with routine cancer care.

FRENCH ADAPTATION OF THE WAYS OF COPING CHECKLIST

A short form (42 items) of the Ways of Coping Checklist was administered to 468 French men and women. A factor analysis of the responses yielded three factors, accounting for about 35% of the total variance, and named Problem-focused Coping, Emotion-focused Coping, and Social Support seeking. The first two dimensions are close to those generally described in the literature. Some interesting relationships of scores appeared between personality and coping, notably, between anxiety and emotion-focused coping.

Subjective wellbeing and longevity: Findings from a 22-year cohort study

OBJECTIVE The health implications of positive affect (PA) are still a matter of debate. The present study examined the longitudinal relationships between subjective wellbeing (SWB) components (i.e., Life satisfaction, PA and negative affect (NA)) and all-cause mortality in older adults. METHODS Discrete-time survival analysis within the structural equation modeling framework was applied to data from the PAQUID Cohort (n=3777, baseline age 62-101years) including ten time periods spanning 22years. Time-invariant (age, gender, baseline life satisfaction, diabetes mellitus and hypercholesterolemia status) and lagged time-varying (PA, NA, dementia, functional status and self-rated health) predictors were included sequentially in the analyses. RESULTS When included together in the model, only PA among the SWB components showed a significant association with longevity, which persisted (OR=.962, 95% CI=.938, .986) even after adjustment for the interaction between PA and NA, and after additional adjustment for prior medical conditions, functional status and self-rated health. CONCLUSIONS In congruence with positive psychology, PA proved to be an independent protective factor regardless of variations in NA, which did not seem to be a mortality risk factor.

Factors predicting sexual functioning in patients 3 months after surgical procedures for breast cancer: the role of the Sense of Coherence.

UNLABELLED Women with breast cancer may have significant problems adjusting to the disease and therapy, due to the significant changes in body image and sexuality associated. The aim of this study was to 1) assess sexual functioning 3 months after surgical procedures for breast cancer, and 2) prospectively investigate the usefulness of a Sense of Coherence (SOC) and beauty treatment as predictors of sexual functioning. METHODS One hundred women with breast cancer were randomly assigned to a group receiving beauty treatments during hospitalization or a control group. SOC subscales were assessed the day before surgery. Psychological distress and body image were assessed on day 6 after surgery and sexual functioning was assessed at three months. RESULTS Patients with breast cancer seem to experience significant issues in sexual functioning 3 months after surgery. Half of them declared no sexual activity and 42% had no interest for sex. In terms of Sense of Coherence, only the perception that resources were available to face the disease (i.e. manageability) had a positive influence on sexual functioning. Beauty treatment was also associated, but the most statistically significant predictor of sexual functioning was a younger age. CONCLUSION This study provides evidence that coping resources, and especially the perception that resources are available to face disease-related disturbances (i.e. manageability), have a positive influence on sexual functioning. Interventions aimed at improving patient perception of available resources might be useful to improve sexual functioning among patients with breast cancer.

Decision-making in rectal and colorectal cancer: systematic review and qualitative analysis of surgeons’ preferences

Abstract Surgeons are experiencing difficulties implementing recommendations not only owing to incomplete, confusing or conflicting information but also to the increasing involvement of patients in decisions relating to their health. This study sought to establish which common factors including heuristic factors guide surgeons’ decision-making in colon and rectal cancers. We conducted a systematic literature review of surgeons’ decision-making factors related to colon and rectal cancer treatment. Eleven of 349 identified publications were eligible for data analyses. Using the IRaMuTeQ (Interface of R for the Multidimensional Analyses of Texts and Questionnaire), we carried out a qualitative analysis of the significant factors collected in the studies reviewed. Several validation procedures were applied to control the robustness of the findings. Five categories of factors (i.e. patient, surgeon, treatment, tumor and organizational cues) were found to influence surgeons’ decision-making. Specifically, all decision criteria including biomedical (e.g. tumor information) and heuristic (e.g. surgeons’ dispositional factors) criteria converged towards the factor ‘age of patient’ in the similarity analysis. In the light of the results, we propose an explanatory model showing the impact of heuristic criteria on medical issues (i.e. diagnosis, prognosis, treatment features, etc.) and thus on decision-making. Finally, the psychosocial complexity involved in decision-making is discussed and a medico-psycho-social grid for use in multidisciplinary meetings is proposed.

Évaluation de l’impact de la reconstruction mammaire chez les femmes en couple grâce à un outil de recherche communautaire : les Seintinelles

This preliminary study explores the psychological and marital impact of breast reconstruction (or lack thereof) in women who had a mastectomy due to breast cancer. The study was carried out through an innovative and French community-based research tool on cancer: the Seintinelles. Sixty-nine partnered women treated for breast cancer participated, divided into 3 groups: 19 without breast reconstruction, 24 with immediate breast reconstruction and 26 with delayed breast reconstruction. They completed online questionnaires measuring both satisfaction and regret about the decision related to breast reconstruction, quality of life after breast surgery (EORTC-BRR), emotional state (POMS) and marital intimacy (PAIR). Recruitment through the Seintinelles had the advantage of being quick and national, but the profile of participants deviated from the mean population in the sense that our subjects were on average younger than women affected by breast cancer and had faced more breast cancer in their family. The results revealed that women are satisfied with their choice (little regret), have a similar emotional experience and good marital intimacy. However, women without breast reconstruction would less recommend their decision to others and were less satisfied with the aesthetic result, compared to women with breast reconstruction. These results highlight that psychological and marital impact seems comparable in women with and without reconstruction. Future studies are needed to better understand the role of the partner in the recourse of breast reconstruction.

Social isolation in parents of children with hemangiomas: Effects of coping styles and emotional distress

This study investigated factors associated with social isolation in parents of children with hemangiomas. Eighty-one parents completed questionnaires assessing their emotional distress, social isolation, and coping styles. To explore the relationships between these variables, a path analysis was used to test a model in which clinical characteristics of hemangiomas and parents’ coping strategies do not have direct effects on their social isolation but indirect effects via their emotional distress. Bootstrapping was used to assess indirect effects. Time since onset and lesional complications had positive direct effects on parents’ social isolation. Lesional visibility and emotion-focused coping had negative indirect effects on parents’ social isolation via their emotional distress, while problem-focused coping showed a positive indirect effect. These findings may have implications for clinicians managing parents of children with hemangiomas.

Psychometric Properties of the French Adaptation of the Basic Documentation for Psycho-Oncology (Po-Bado): A Distress Screening Tool

We translated and adapted the French version of the Basic Documentation for Psycho-Oncology (Po-Bado standard version) and we report its psychometric properties. The Po-Bado is a 12-item documentation instrument that measures psychosocial burden in cancer patients (all types and stages). The intensity of a patients psychological suffering is evaluated by a health care professional (e.g., doctor, psychologist, nurse) in a semiguided interview. Overall, 252 cancer patients (Mage = 57 years, SD = 12.8 years) participated, completing the Po-Bado during a supportive care consultation following initial diagnosis. Our results show good reliability of the Po-Bado scores, with high internal consistency and interrater coefficients. Low temporal stability indicated that the Po-Bado measures a state-like phenomenon (vs. trait-like). Validity analysis showed significant correlations between cancer-specific psychosocial burden and negative mood (i.e., depression, anxiety) and psychological disturbance as assessed by the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12). Confirmatory factor analysis validated the Po-Bados two-factor structure (i.e., somatic and psychological burdens). A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve determined the optimal cutoff score of 7.5. These results suggest that the Po-Bado is an easily applicable tool for clinicians and researchers to screen effectively for psychosocial burden in oncology.

Article originalÉvaluation de l’impact de la reconstruction mammaire chez les femmes en couple grâce à un outil de recherche communautaire : les SeintinellesEvaluation of the impact of breast reconstruction in women in couple through a community-based research tool: The Seintinelles

This preliminary study explores the psychological and marital impact of breast reconstruction (or lack thereof) in women who had a mastectomy due to breast cancer. The study was carried out through an innovative and French community-based research tool on cancer: the Seintinelles. Sixty-nine partnered women treated for breast cancer participated, divided into 3 groups: 19 without breast reconstruction, 24 with immediate breast reconstruction and 26 with delayed breast reconstruction. They completed online questionnaires measuring both satisfaction and regret about the decision related to breast reconstruction, quality of life after breast surgery (EORTC-BRR), emotional state (POMS) and marital intimacy (PAIR). Recruitment through the Seintinelles had the advantage of being quick and national, but the profile of participants deviated from the mean population in the sense that our subjects were on average younger than women affected by breast cancer and had faced more breast cancer in their family. The results revealed that women are satisfied with their choice (little regret), have a similar emotional experience and good marital intimacy. However, women without breast reconstruction would less recommend their decision to others and were less satisfied with the aesthetic result, compared to women with breast reconstruction. These results highlight that psychological and marital impact seems comparable in women with and without reconstruction. Future studies are needed to better understand the role of the partner in the recourse of breast reconstruction.