Quality of life of women with locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer

Abstract

ABSTRACT Objectives: To identify the main affected domains of quality of life of hospitalized women with locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer; and to analyze the association between the level of quality of life and stage of cancer. Method: This was a cross-sectional quantitative, study conducted in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, between March and July 2017. Interviews were performed with 199 women. The researchers administered the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 30, with analysis using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences software and the Kruskal-Wallis test. Results: Mean global health status was 32.04. On the functional scales, cognitive functioning scored the highest (60.47), while role functioning scored the lowest (12.48). Fatigue presented the highest mean (69.57). The scores for global health status and the functional scales (with the exception of the social functioning) decreased as staging progressed. Conclusion: The stage of cancer affects the quality of life of the studied sample of women.