Health and Quality of Life Outcomes (Jan 2022)

Quality of life of women with breast cancer in a tertiary referral university hospital

  • Jamilah Yusoff,
  • Aniza Ismail,
  • Mohd Rizal Abd Manaf,
  • Fuad Ismail,
  • Norlia Abdullah,
  • Rohaizak Muhammad,
  • Shahrun Niza Abdullah Suhaimi,
  • Reena Rahayu Mat Zin

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12955-022-01921-1
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 20, no. 1
pp. 1 – 13

Abstract

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Abstract Background Quality of life (QoL) is one of the treatment outcome measures in patients with breast cancer. In this study, we measured the QoL of women with breast cancer at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre (UKMMC) and identified the associated factors. Methodology This cross-sectional study was conducted from October 2017 to December 2017 and involved female patients with breast cancer. The QoL scores and domains were determined using the EuroQol EQ-5D-5L, and were presented as the utility value and visual analog scores, respectively. Results We recruited a total of 173 women, aged 33–87 years. The median VA score was 80.00 (interquartile range [IQR] 70.00–90.00); the median utility value was 0.78 (interquartile range [IQR] 0.65–1.00. Women who did not take traditional medicine had a higher utility index score of 0.092 (95% CI 0.014–0.171), and women with household income of RM3000–5000 had a higher utility index score of 0.096 (95% CI 0.011–0.180). Conclusion Traditional medicine consumption and household income were significantly associated with lower QoL. The pain/discomfort domain was the worst affected QoL domain and was related to traditional medicine use and household income. Addressing pain management in patients with breast cancer and the other factors contributing to lower QoL may improve the QoL of breast cancer survivors in the future.

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