Quality of life and associated factors in women’s cervical cancer survivors

• Autor(a) principal: Corrêa, Camila Soares Lima
• Data de Publicação: 2019
• Outros Autores: Leite, Isabel Cristina Gonçalves, Andrade, Anna Paula Silva, Carvalho, Simone Meira, Borges, Ricardo Miranda, Guerra, Maximiliano Ribeiro
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: HU Revista (Online)
• Texto Completo: https://periodicos.ufjf.br/index.php/hurevista/article/view/2898
• topic: Neoplasias do colo do útero. Sobreviventes. Qualidade de vida.

The treatment for cervical cancer can lead to late adverse effects such as sexual, bowel or urinary dysfunction; early menopause and lymphedema in the lower limb, which may have a negative impact on quality of life. The objective was to assess the quality of life of cervical cancer survivors, their associated factors, and to compare quality of life with a control group of women with no history of cancer. Women undergoing treatment for cervical cancer from a minimum of three months were included in the cancer group (n = 37). In the control group, which is population-based, were included women without history of cancer (n = 37). The quality of life was evaluated using the WHOQOL-bref and the sexual function by the Female Sexual Function Index. Clinical, therapeutic and socioeconomic variables were evaluated by a questionnaire developed by the authors. In comparison to control group, the cancer group presented higher proportion of women who lived without a partner and who considered the relationship with their partner as poor / regular. In addition, cervical cancer survivors have urinary, intestinal and sexual dysfunctions. Besides, the cancer group exhibited poor score in the "Physical" and "Social Relations" domains of WHOQOL-bref (p = 0.03 and 0.01, respectively). The factors independently associated with "Physical" domain were lower limb lymphedema and urinary retention, and with "Social Relations" domain were social support of friends and vaginal stenosis / shortening. The results suggest negative impact of the disease and its treatment on quality of life of cervical cancer survivors. Thus, it should be investigated the quality of life and the factors associated with it in order to improve patient’s care, which should be performed by multiprofessional team.