Myers Charlotte, Bennett Kathleen, Cahir Caitriona, Savard Josée, Lauzier Sophie
School of Population Health, RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Dublin, Ireland.
Data Science Centre, School of Population Health, RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Dublin, Ireland.
Sci Rep. 2025 Feb 1;15(1):4010. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-84852-9.
The long-term consequences from the COVID-19 pandemic on breast cancer (BC) is highly unknown, however persisting unmet needs and psychosocial difficulties are likely. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the change in health-related quality of life (HR-QoL) from the pandemic to post-pandemic for women living with a diagnosis of BC and to assess the association between COVID-19 stressor impact and HR-QoL in Ireland and Québec, Canada. Women with a diagnosis of BC were initially enrolled in the cohort study. HR-QoL was assessed during the pandemic (2020-2021) and post-pandemic periods (2022). COVID-19 stressor impact was computed post-pandemic, and change in HR-QoL during and post-pandemic was compared between Ireland and Québec using independent t-tests. Multivariable analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to evaluate the association between COVID-19 stressor impact and changes in HR-QoL, and compare it between Ireland and Québec. 405 participants were included from both settings (Ireland n = 267; Québec n = 138). The average HR-QoL improved from the COVID-19 pandemic to post-pandemic, and there were no differences between Ireland and Québec. Women with high COVID-19 stressor impact (18.9% of participants) had a significantly smaller improvement in their overall HR-QoL compared to those with low COVID-19 stressor impact, and this was evident in Ireland (p < 0.004) and Québec (p < 0.0001) but there were no significant differences between Ireland and Québec (interaction p-value > 0.05). Overall, HR-QoL for women with BC improved from pandemic to post-pandemic period. However, similarly in both settings, women who experienced higher levels of COVID-19-related stress had a slower recovery in HR-QoL. These results can guide decisions about health services and policies to adequately address the on-going effect of the pandemic and also prepare for future health crises.
新冠疫情对乳腺癌（BC）的长期影响尚不清楚，但持续存在的未满足需求和心理社会困难很可能存在。本研究的目的是评估确诊患有乳腺癌的女性从疫情期间到疫情后健康相关生活质量（HR-QoL）的变化，并评估爱尔兰和加拿大魁北克省新冠疫情应激源影响与HR-QoL之间的关联。确诊患有乳腺癌的女性最初被纳入队列研究。在疫情期间（2020 - 2021年）和疫情后时期（2022年）评估HR-QoL。疫情后计算新冠疫情应激源影响，并使用独立t检验比较爱尔兰和魁北克省疫情期间和疫情后HR-QoL的变化。采用多变量协方差分析（ANCOVA）评估新冠疫情应激源影响与HR-QoL变化之间的关联，并在爱尔兰和魁北克省之间进行比较。两个地区共纳入405名参与者（爱尔兰n = 267；魁北克n = 138）。从新冠疫情期间到疫情后，HR-QoL的平均水平有所改善，爱尔兰和魁北克省之间没有差异。与新冠疫情应激源影响较低的女性相比，新冠疫情应激源影响较高的女性（占参与者的18.9%）总体HR-QoL的改善明显较小，这在爱尔兰（p < 0.004）和魁北克省（p < 0.0001）都很明显，但爱尔兰和魁北克省之间没有显著差异（交互p值> 0.05）。总体而言，患有乳腺癌的女性的HR-QoL从疫情期间到疫情后有所改善。然而，在两个地区类似的是，经历与新冠疫情相关压力水平较高的女性HR-QoL的恢复较慢。这些结果可为有关卫生服务和政策的决策提供指导，以充分应对疫情的持续影响，并为未来的健康危机做好准备。
