Resumen de Calidad de vida en pacientes chilenas sobrevivientes de cáncer de mama
María Elisa Irarrázaval O, Pascale Kleinman, Fernando Silva R, Loreto Fernández González, Camilo Torres, Marcela Fritis, Carolina Barriga, Herman Waintrub
Background: Quality of Life (QOL) assessment may evaluate the impact of diseases and their treatment on the overall well-being of patients. Aim: To assess QOL in Chilean breast cancer survivors. Patients and Methods: Ninety one female breast cancer patients aged 60 ± 10 years, who finished their oncologic treatment at least a year prior to the assessment, who were disease free and in medical follow-up were included in the study. They completed the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) QLQ-C30 core questionnaire and the breast cancer module QLQ-BR23. Results: Forty eight percent of respondents were long term survivors (more than five years). Global QOL scores were high (73.6 ± 18.2), emotional scale had the lowest scores in QLQ-C30 functional scales (72.1). Symptoms with the highest scores were: Insomnia (= 21.2), pain (= 20.8), and fatigue (= 19.1). Body image, sexual function, and concern about the future were the most relevant problems. Body image was superior in patients with breast-conserving surgery (p = 0.008), and cognitive function was better in patients in early disease stage (p = 0.03) and in those with more than five years of survival (p = 0.04). Conclusions: Even when global QOL scores were high, some symptoms were prevalent. Awareness about these problems and symptoms should improve their diagnosis and treatment.
