| Abstract: |
This chapter describes complex interactions of cancer and body image in older women and men (defined as 65 years and older) and provides clinical recommendations for approaching body image concerns in this group, about which less is known. Up to one-third of breast cancer patients report body image disturbances, which tend to persist into the survivorship period. In older patients, body image distress is strongly tied to surgery and reconstructive treatment. Older men, already experiencing changes in body function and image from aging, may find added distress from the consequences of cancer treatment. The average age of diagnosis for stomach cancer is 69 years old. Patients with gastric cancer also experience significant body image disturbances. In a research study of patients with multiple myeloma, patients diagnosed with multiple myeloma exhibited more concerns about body integrity than at-risk patients. In one study, older men and women showed no differences in coping with alopecia from cancer or cancer treatment, although the body image of the male and female patients who had partial or complete alopecia was poorer than that in patients who had no alopecia. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved) |
