Women's coping strategies during the first three months of adjuvant endocrine therapy for breast cancer.

Aim: The aim was to explore stressful events, experienced problems and used coping strategies during the first three months of undergoing ET.

Design: This study used a mixed method design.

Methods: A consecutive sample of 39 women newly diagnosed with breast cancer were included at the start of their adjuvant endocrine therapy. A daily coping assessment was used to create daily reports about stressful events or experienced problems and coping strategies.

Results: The most frequently reported were . was the most reported . Patients used both emotion-and problem-focused coping, and were coped by , was coped by .

Conclusions: Patients experienced a variety of stressful events or problems during the first three months of endocrine therapy. They also used several coping strategies to endure the treatment.