Does breast reduction surgery improve health-related quality of life? A prospective cohort study in Australian women

Abstract

ObjectivesTo assess the health burden of breast hypertrophy and the comparative effectiveness of breast reduction surgery in improving health-related quality of life.DesignProspective cohort study.SettingA major public tertiary care hospital in Australia.ParticipantsWomen with symptomatic breast hypertrophy who underwent breast reduction surgery were followed for 12 months. A comparison control cohort comprised women with breast hypertrophy who did not undergo surgery.InterventionsBilateral breast reduction surgery for women in the surgical cohort.Main outcome measuresThe primary outcome measure was health-related quality of life measured preoperatively and at 3, 6 and 12 months postoperatively using the Short Form-36 (SF-36) questionnaire. Secondary outcome measures included post-surgical complications.Results209 patients in the surgical cohort completed questionnaires before and after surgery. 124 patients in the control hypertrophy cohort completed baseline and 12-month follow-up questionnaires. At baseline, both groups had significantly lower scores compared with population norms across all scales (p<0.001). In the surgical cohort significant improvements were seen across all eight SF-36 scales (p<0.001) following surgery. Within 3 months of surgery scores were equivalent to those of the normal population and this improvement was sustained at 12 months. SF-36 physical and mental component scores both significantly improved following surgery, with a mean change of 10.2 and 9.2 points, respectively (p<0.001). In contrast, SF-36 scores for breast hypertrophy controls remained at baseline across 12 months. The improvement in quality of life was independent of breast resection weight and body mass index.ConclusionBreast reduction significantly improved quality of life in women with breast hypertrophy. This increase was most pronounced within 3 months of surgery and sustained at 12-month follow-up. This improvement in quality of life is comparable to other widely accepted surgical procedures. Furthermore, women benefit from surgery regardless of factors including body mass index and resection weight.