Quality of file in breast cancer survivors compared to healthy women

PURPOSES: To assess the quality of life of breast cancer survivors compared to a sample of age-matched healthy women. METHODS: A cross-sectional design was conducted on 199 consecutive breast cancer survivors, one year or more after diagnosis, treated at two large hospitals. The patients were compared to age-matched healthy women consisting of employees and volunteers of the two hospitals. Quality of life was evaluated using the World Health Organization Quality of Life Questionnaire, version Bref (WHOQOL-bref) and socioeconomic, clinical, and treatment data were obtained. The chi(2) test and a generalized linear model were used for statistical analysis. The adopted level of significance was 5%. RESULTS: The mean age of breast cancer survivors was 54.4 years (SD=10.4) and the average length of time since diagnosis was 5.0 years (SD=4.6). The survivors reported a poorer overall quality of life (p=0.001), and for the physical (p<0.001), psychological (p=0.002) and environment (p=0.029) domains than the comparison group, after adjusting for potential confounders. There was no significant difference in the social relationships domain (p-0.929) between groups. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that many breast cancer survivors experienced worse quality of life assessment than healthy women. This information may be useful to establish strategies to improve the quality of life of women with breast cancer.