Spousal Relationships and Pain in Metastatic Breast Cancer

Part 1: Women with metastatic breast cancer will be asked to take part in the study. Project staff will review patients' medical records to determine their eligibility for the study. Eligible patients will be approached by a project staff member when they begin treatment for metastatic disease. By agreeing to participate, you are agreeing to allow the study staff to contact your spouse. Spouses who are not present at the time patients are consented will not be asked to participate. Interested patients may still participate in this study even if their spouse is unwilling or unable to participate. A project staff member will show participants how to use hand-held computers. Learning to use the computers does not require previous computer experience. Participants will take the computers home and, when signaled by the computer, answer a brief series of questions about how they are feeling physically and emotionally at that particular moment. Participants will be prompted to answer questions 6 times a day, for 14 days after starting treatment. It should take about 2 minutes to answer the questions each time. Upon completion, participants will be interviewed separately in person or on the telephone for feedback about using the computer. The interview should take about 30 minutes. At the time participants are consented, they will also be asked to complete several questionnaires about their health, pain, and their relationship. It will take about 45 minutes to complete all of the questionnaires. Participants may complete the questionnaires while waiting for their clinic appointments, or they may take the questionnaires home, complete them, and return them in a pre-stamped envelope. A project staff member will review patients' medical records to collect medical information relevant to this study. All answers given by participants will be kept private. This is an investigational study. A total of 5 patients and 5 spouses will be asked to participate. All we be enrolled at M. D. Anderson. Part 2: Women with metastatic breast cancer will be asked to take part in the study. Project staff will review patients' medical records to determine their eligibility for the study. Eligible patients will be approached by a project staff member when they begin treatment for metastatic disease. By agreeing to participate, you are agreeing to allow the study staff to contact your spouse. Spouses who are not present at the time patients are consented will be contacted by phone, to find out if they are interested in participating in this study. Patients and spouses who are interested in participating will be asked to complete several questionnaires about their health, pain, and their relationship. It will take about 45 minutes to complete all of the questionnaires. Participants in this study may complete the questionnaires while waiting for their clinic appointments, or they may take the questionnaires home, complete them, and return them in a pre-stamped envelope. Both patients and their spouses will be asked to complete the same questionnaires 3 months after completing the first questionnaire, and then again 3 months later. Any patient whose spouse does not wish to participate will not be asked to complete these additional questionnaires. Attempts will be made to give these questionnaires during routine clinic appointments so that the questionnaires can be completed while in the waiting room. If appointments do not occur at the same time as the questionnaires are scheduled to be completed or clinic time does not permit, patients and spouses will be mailed the questionnaire packets and asked to return them in self-addressed stamped envelopes. A project staff member will review patients' medical records to collect medical information relevant to this study. All answers given by participants will be kept private. This is an investigational study. Up to 622 individuals (311 patients and 311 spouses) will be asked to participate in this study. All will be enrolled at M. D. Anderson.