Health-Related Quality of Life of African American Breast Cancer Survivors Compared With Healthy African American Women

Background: The diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer can result in an array of late cancer-specific side effects and changes in general well-being. Research has focused on white samples, limiting our understanding of the unique health-related quality of life outcomes of African American breast cancer survivors (BCSs). Even when African American BCSs have been targeted, research is limited by small samples and failure to include comparisons of peers without a history of breast cancer. Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare health-related quality of life of African American female BCSs with that of African American women with no history of breast cancer (control group). Methods: A total of 140 women (62 BCSs and 78 controls), 18 years or older and 2 to 10 years postdiagnosis, were recruited from a breast cancer clinic and cancer support groups. Participants provided informed consent and completed a 1-time survey based on the proximal-distal health-related quality of life model of Brenner et al (1995).