Quality of life among women recently diagnosed with invasive breast cancer: the Pathways Study

Abstract

Purpose-Few studies have assessed quality of life (QOL) of women diagnosed with breast cancer within the first few weeks of their initial diagnosis. We describe QOL among 950 women recently diagnosed with invasive breast cancer. Methods-Starting in January 2006, we invited women aged ≥21 years who were diagnosed with first primary invasive breast cancer within Kaiser Permanente Northern California (KPNC) to enroll in the Pathways Study, a prospective study of breast cancer survivorship. QOL was measured using the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Breast Cancer (FACT-B), along with sociodemographic and social support information. Clinical characteristics were obtained from the KPNC cancer registry and electronic medical record. We used multivariable linear regression models to identify factors associated with QOL scores calculated from the FACT-B.Results-The mean age ± SD of the sample was 59.6 years (±11.9 years), and the mean time ± SD from diagnosis until interview was 8.0 weeks (±3.2 weeks). Younger age at diagnosis was associated with lower scores in all QOL domains (p<0.01), and later stage at diagnosis was associated with lower scores in all domains (p<0.05) except for social well-being. Higher levels of social support were associated with higher QOL except for physical well-being (p<0.05). These associations were stronger within two months of breast cancer diagnosis.Conclusion-Quality of life as influenced by a diagnosis of breast cancer is an important factor in cancer survivorship. Age, stage at diagnosis, and social support are key factors in this important variable.

Health-related Quality of Life among Breast Cancer Patients and its Influencing Factor in a Chinese Population

“…Park et al reported breast cancer survivors in Korea had higher scores in terms of physical well being, social well being, functional well being and breast cancer subscale. On the contrary, previous several studies suggested the older age patients are related to higher QOL (Mor et al, 1994;Ganz et al, 1998;Wenzel et al, 1999;Avis et al, 2005;Kwan et al, 2010). A study conducted in United State showed younger breast cancer patients are associated with problems with respect to partner relationships, sexual functioning, and body image, and less adaptive coping strategies, and the younger patients were more likely to have chemotherapy than older patients.…”

“…A study conducted in United State showed younger breast cancer patients are associated with problems with respect to partner relationships, sexual functioning, and body image, and less adaptive coping strategies, and the younger patients were more likely to have chemotherapy than older patients. Therefore, they were related to lower overall QOL than older breast cancer patients (Kwan et al, 2010). The inconsistency of these studies may be explained by differences in population background, source of subjects, sample size and by change.…”

“…Age and types of treatment have been known to be significant high risk factors for poor quality of life (Wenzel et al, 1999;Kwan et al, 2010;Park et al, 2011 (Wenzel et al, 1999;Kwan et al, 2010). However, such associations were only published in one study conducted in western countries.…”

Physical activity and nutrition recommendations for weight management during breast cancer treatment

“…In addition, a meta analysis of breast cancer survivors from 16 studies found that those who got the recommended 150 minutes of exercise each week had an 11% reduction in breast cancer mortality, and a 24% lower risk of overall mortality [19]. In addition, remaining physically active during recovery from breast cancer can also help to improve quality of life, body image, mood, bone health, and physical condition, while at the same time reducing fatigue, stress, and anxiety [20][21][22][23][24][25][26]. In light of this and other findings, the American Cancer Society has made the following recommendations for breast cancer survivors to maintain their weight [27]:…”

Evaluation of the Quality of Life in Adult Cancer Survivors (QLACS) scale for early post-treatment breast cancer survivors

“…Commonly used cancer-specific QoL measures, such as the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Breast (FACT-B; [7]) and the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Breast Cancer-Specific Quality of Life Questionnaire (QLQ-BR23; [8]), were designed primarily for cancer survivors in active treatment and have a predominance of items relevant to immediate effects of cancer diagnosis and treatment (e.g., nausea, shortness of breath). The impact of cancer on QoL during the acute diagnostic and treatment phases has been well studied [e.g., [9][10][11].…”