ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Psycho-Oncology
This article is part of the Research TopicInnovations in Psychological Care for Oncology and Palliative Settings: A Holistic ApproachView all 28 articles
Self-management of lower limb lymphedema at home following gynecologic 1 cancer surgery: A qualitative study of women's experiences and challenges
Provisionally accepted
- Shenzhen Second People's Hospital, Shenzhen, China
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Introduction: As a common chronic complication after gynecological cancer surgery, lower limb 3 lymphedema significantly compromises patients' quality of life, both physically and 4 psychologically. However, patients' adherence to home-based CDT, the internationally 5 recommended first-line treatment, was frequently inadequate. This study aimed to explore the 6 lived experiences and core challenges faced by women managing lower limb lymphedema at 7 home after gynecologic cancer surgery. The insights gained can guide the formulation of improved 8 nursing care strategies. 9 Methods: A descriptive phenomenological design was employed in this study. Semi-structured, 10 in-depth interviews were carried out with participants managing lower limb lymphedema at home 11 after gynecologic cancer surgery. The collected data were analyzed using Colaizzi's seven-step 12 phenomenological framework. NVivo version 12.0 software was utilized to facilitate the 13 systematic management of the interview transcripts, supporting a rigorous process of coding and 14 thematic extraction. 15 Results: The final study sample included 10 patients aged from 35 to 75 years. Node integration 16 and refinement led to the construction of a thematic structure comprising 4 parent nodes and 17 17 child nodes.These 4 central themes about patients' lived experiences and challenges were 18 elaborated as follows: (1) the burden of illness and psychological adaptation struggles, (2) the 19 knowledge-practice gap in self-care, (3) limitations in social and systemic support networks, and 20 (4) the critical demand for professional nursing support. 21 Discussion: The process of home-based self-management among patients with lower limb 22 lymphedema after gynecological cancer is complex and influenced by multiple factors, which 23 including physiological, psychological, and social dimensions. Current nursing support systems 24 remain insufficient to meet their actual needs. It is recommended to develop a multi-level 25 intervention model, strengthen family-community-hospital collaborative care mechanisms, and 26 promote digital health tools to enhance patients' self-management capabilities and quality of life.
Keywords: gynecological malignancies, Home-based nursing care, Lower limb lymphedema, qualitative research, self-management
Received: 20 Oct 2025; Accepted: 01 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Tan, Yu, Mo, Sun, Gao, Song and Zhao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Shufen Song
Qian Zhao
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