Quality of Life of Chilean Breast Cancer Survivors: Multicentric Study

• Autor(a) principal: Lorca, Luz Alejandra
• Data de Publicação: 2022
• Outros Autores: Sacomori, Cinara, Vera-Llanos, Sandra, Hinrichsen-Ramírez, Alicia Estefanía, López, Karen, Vega, Marcela, Contalba, Patricia, Sperandio, Fabiana Flores
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Revista Brasileira de Cancerologia (Online)
• Texto Completo: https://rbc.inca.gov.br/index.php/revista/article/view/2757
• topic: breast neoplasms; quality of life; social determinants of health; cancer survivors; health promotion; neoplasias da mama; qualidade de vida; determinantes sociais da saúde; sobreviventes de câncer; promoção da saúde; neoplasias de la mama; calidad de vida; determinantes sociales de la salud; supervivientes de cáncer; promoción de la salud

Introduction: As breast cancer survivorship rates increase, so does the necessity to improve survivors’ health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Objective: To analyze HRQoL among Chilean breast cancer survivors, in general and considering geographic location. In addition, to correlate HRQoL with age, education level and body mass index (BMI). Method: Cross-sectional observational study which included 125 female breast cancer survivors from three public hospitals in three Chilean Macroregions: Central, North Central, and South. The EORTC Questionnaires, QLQ-C30 and QLQ-BR23, and sociodemographic and clinical records were applied. Results: The mean age was 56.1 (±11.9) years with a HRQoL summary score of 67.6 (21.9). HRQoL was reduced mainly in emotional functioning, pain, and insomnia. Fatigue, dyspnea, appetite loss, constipation, financial difficulties, breast and arm symptoms were also reported. The women from the South Macroregion Hospital presented the worst HRQoL scores for most of the domains [general health, functioning (physical, emotional, cognitive and social), fatigue, and nausea], p<0.001. The summary score of HRQoL was correlated to age (Spearman´s rho=0.202, p=0.033), BMI (rho=-0.341, p<0.001), and education level (rho=0.310, p=0.001). Conclusion: Women from three Macroregions showed differences in HRQoL. The latter correlated to age, BMI, and education level. Considering the high presence of symptoms, it is necessary to improve survivorship care plans, providing access to rehabilitation in the continuum of care.