DEFINITIONS OF HOT FLASHES IN BREAST-CANCER SURVIVORS

Menopause is an expected event in a woman's life. Treatment for breast cancer can impact the onset of menopause and precipitate symptoms suc h as hot flashes. Yet this sequelae of events is not well measured, de fined or assimilated into quality of life assessments for cancer survi vors. Though not life threatening, hot flashes can greatly impact a wo man's quality of life or functional ability, It is important for healt h care professionals to more fully understand the nature of the experi ence of hot flashes so as not to underestimate their disruptive potent ial. As part of a larger clinical trial to look at the effectiveness o f vitamin E for hot flashes, breast cancer survivors kept a log of bot h the frequency and intensity of their hot flashes. These women then w rote descriptions to define the severity of those hot flashes. The pur pose oft his paper is to provide insight into the experience of hot fl ashes in breast cancer survivors and to describe the severity of hot f lashes with narratives given by the women experiencing them. J Pain Sy mptom Manage 1998;16:327-333. (C) U.S. Cancer Pain Relief Committee, 1 998.