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Page 6 of 14 Al Onazi et al. Plast Aesthet Res 2020;7:23 I http://dx.doi.org/10.20517/2347-9264.2019.74

Table 1. Summary of participant characteristics (n = 48)
Age Mean (range) 65 years (39-82)
Employment, n (%) Retired 28 (58%)
Sick leave/disability 1 (2%)
Part-time 3 (6%)
Full-time 14 (29%)
Homemaker 2 (4%)
Marital status, n (%) Married or common-law 30 (64%)
Single 2 (4%)
Divorced 9 (19%)
Widowed 6 (13%)
Current cancer treatments, n (%) Hormone therapy 13 (28%)
None 33 (72%)
General health, n (%) Excellent 4 (8%)
Very good 19 (40%)
Good 19 (40%)
Fair 6 (12%)
Lymphedema duration, n (%) 4-5 years 20 (42%)
6-10 years 19 (40%)
> 10 years 9 (19%)
Lymphedema severity, n (%) Slight-mild swelling 12 (25%)
Moderate swelling 33 (69%)
Severe swelling 1 (2%)
Very severe 2 (4%)
Lymphedema status, n (%) Well-controlled, stable 18 (38%)
Improving 7 (15%)
Fluctuating: sometimes better, sometimes worse 21 (44%)
Worsening 2 (4%)
Bothered by lymphedema, n (%) Not at all 8 (17%)
A Little bit 19 (40%)
Moderately 12 (25%)
Quite a bit 6 (13%)
Extremely 3 (6%)

attending specific social settings and 13 (27%) reported hiding the sleeve when in public settings due to
unwanted attention or questions. Fourteen participants (29%) reported that their sleeve interfered with
their work or daily routine [Table 3].

Adherence and perceived control of lymphedema
A total of 28 participants (58%) reported wearing their sleeve every day, and, of those, 21 (76%) reported
their lymphedema was “well controlled or improving” (P = 0.01). When we compared daily adherence of >
12 h daily to non-adherence, there was no significant difference in self-perceived control of lymphedema
(P > 0.05). However, when we examined daily adherence at a level of > 9 h daily, of the 25 participants who
reported adherence at > 9 h, 17 (68%) reported their lymphedema was “well controlled” or “improving”
(r = 0.304; 95%CI: 0.051-0.564; P = 0.021). The strength of the relationship increased when we limited the
analysis to only those participants (n = 33) with moderate lymphedema [Table 4].

When we explored the data based on severity of lymphedema, of the 12 participants with slight or
mild swelling, 11 reported their lymphedema was well controlled or improving; however, only 6 (50%)
reported wearing their sleeve daily for > 9 h. In contrast, of the 36 participants with moderate-to-severe
lymphedema, 14 (39%) participants reported their lymphedema was well controlled or improving, with 11
of the 14 reporting wearing their sleeve daily for > 9 h (P < 0.047) [Table 5].

Qualitative findings
Based on the findings of survey, the following probing questions were developed for the subsequent focus
group sessions, to help us to better understand the participants’ perspectives on wearing a sleeve, when