Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo, P.O. Box 271, Kynsey Road, Colombo 8, Western Province, Sri Lanka.
BMC Cancer. 2021 Mar 23;21(1):305. doi: 10.1186/s12885-021-08055-5.
Breast cancer and its treatment imposes a significant effect in the quality of life (QOL) of women. Being a developing country with contrasting social and cultural norms to the West, Sri Lankan women may have a different experience on QOL following surgical treatment of breast cancer. This study was conducted to evaluate post-treatment QOL in breast cancer patients and to determine its association with the type of surgery.
A cross sectional study was carried out. Fifty four women with non-metastatic breast cancer who underwent surgery for breast cancer at the Professorial Surgical Unit, Colombo during 2015-2018 and completed a minimum of one year follow up after surgery were invited to participate. Fifty-four women who responded were assessed using the validated EORTC QLQ-C30 and QLQ-BR23 questionnaires. Non-parametric tests were used for statistical analyses.
The mean age was 59 years (range 36-81). A majority (61%, n = 35) underwent mastectomy and the rest (n = 19, 45%) breast conservation surgery (BCS). The mean QLQ-C30 score was 68.8 (range 8.3-100) and the mean scores for physical function, role function, emotional function, cognitive function, and social function were 71.4, 81.5, 77.0, 80.2, and 86.4, respectively. The mean scores for body image, sexual functioning, sexual enjoyment, future perspective, systemic therapy, breast symptoms, arm symptoms, and hair loss assessed by the QLQ-BR23 were 76.4, 18.3, 33.3, 73.6, 30.5, 16.2, 23.4 and 32.7, respectively. No significant differences (P > 0.05) were noted in global health status, physical function, role function, emotional function, cognitive function and social function between BCS and mastectomy. QLQ-BR23 body image, sexual functioning, sexual enjoyment and future perspective also did not differ significantly (p > 0.05) between the two groups.
Sexual functioning and enjoyment, breast and arm symptoms and hair loss contributed to poor QOL while the impact on global health status including physical, social and emotional functions were minimal. Type of surgery did not appear to be associated with QOL. Future studies with a larger sample sizes will be helpful to further study these factors.
乳腺癌及其治疗对女性的生活质量（QOL）有重大影响。斯里兰卡是一个发展中国家，其社会和文化规范与西方国家有很大的不同，因此，接受乳腺癌手术后，该国女性的 QOL 可能会有不同的体验。本研究旨在评估乳腺癌患者治疗后的 QOL，并确定其与手术类型的关系。
本研究采用横断面研究设计。2015 年至 2018 年期间，在科伦坡教授外科病房接受乳腺癌手术的 54 名非转移性乳腺癌女性患者被邀请参与本研究。54 名有回应的女性患者接受了 EORTC QLQ-C30 和 QLQ-BR23 调查问卷的评估。采用非参数检验进行统计学分析。
平均年龄为 59 岁（范围 36-81 岁）。大多数患者（61%，n=35）接受了乳房切除术，其余患者（n=19，45%）接受了保乳手术（BCS）。QLQ-C30 的平均评分为 68.8（范围 8.3-100），身体功能、角色功能、情感功能、认知功能和社会功能的平均评分为 71.4、81.5、77.0、80.2 和 86.4，分别。QLQ-BR23 评估的身体意象、性功能、性享受、未来展望、系统治疗、乳房症状、手臂症状和脱发的平均评分为 76.4、18.3、33.3、73.6、30.5、16.2、23.4 和 32.7。BCS 和乳房切除术之间的全球健康状况、身体功能、角色功能、情感功能、认知功能和社会功能无显著差异（P>0.05）。QLQ-BR23 的身体意象、性功能、性享受和未来展望在两组之间也无显著差异（p>0.05）。
性功能和享受、乳房和手臂症状以及脱发对 QOL 有不良影响，而对全球健康状况（包括身体、社会和情感功能）的影响较小。手术类型似乎与 QOL 无关。未来需要更大样本量的研究来进一步研究这些因素。
