Quality of life of women undergoing breast cancer treatment: a transversal study

Abstract

Introduction: Mastectomy can promote physical and emotional consequences with repercussions of the woman´s quality of life. It is believed that quantitative measures of quality of life can guide therapeutic intervention strategies and assist in the definition of actions that prioritize health promotion. Objective: To evaluate the quality of life of women undergoing breast cancer treatment. Material and methods: Cross-sectional study, in which a convenience sample of 30 women participated. A questionnaire was applied for sociodemographic and clinical characterization of the sample; and the “Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36)” to assess general quality of life. Data analysis was performed using descriptive statistics; the t-Student test was used to compare two variables; and the ANOVA test to compare more than two variables. The significance level adopted was p <0.05. Results: The SF-36 domains with lowest scores, indicating more damage to health conditions, were “emotional aspects” (5.1) and “physical aspects” (6.5); The domains with the highest scores were “functional capacity” (25.0) and “mental health” (22.3). When comparing preoperative breast cancer treatments with quality of life, the SF-36 “vitality” domain showed a statistically significant difference for radiotherapy (p=0.04). The most prevalent breast surgery was Halsted radical mastectomy, corresponding to 43.3% (n=13) of the sample. Regarding the laterality of the operated breast, 43.3% (n=13) of the participants underwent surgery on the non-dominant side; and 70% (n=21) performed lymphadenectomy, and 16.7% (n=5) reported lymphedema. There was a predominance of sensitivity changes (80%; n=24) postoperatively; and 46.7% (n=14) underwent breast reconstruction. In the evaluation of the practice of sexual activity, 63.3% (n=19) of the women reported not having an active sex life. Conclusion: The quality of life assessed by the SF-36 questionnaire presented the domains “emotional aspect” and “physical aspects” most impaired.