QUALITY OF LIFE AND THE RELATED FACTORS IN PATIENTS WITH BREAST CANCER IN YAZD CITY IN 2016

Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in women, and today the survival of these patients has increased after diagnosis. But since survival is not the only issue, the purpose of this study was to investigate the quality of life and its related factors in women with breast cancer.

 This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on 106 breast cancer patients who were referred to Shahid Ramezanzadeh radiotherapy center in Yazd in 2016.  QLQ-C30 and QLQ-BR23 questionnaires were used to collect information.  Data were analyzed by SPSS-24 software using Univariate and multiple regression and Pearson correlation.

Findings showed that the most common problems were social function (83.01 ± 18.96) and hair loss (48.48 ± 34.52). The overall quality of life score was 64.77 ± 18.41. Univariate regression indicated a relationship between quality of life and marital status, education, and job (p <0.05). Results of multiple regression showed a significant relationship (p <0.05) between the quality of life and marital status. Also, there was a significant (p <0.05) correlation between the quality of life and symptoms of the disease (except diarrhea and constipation).

According to the results of this study, there is a relationship between marital status and symptoms of illness with the quality of life. Therefore, it is recommended to enhance the quality of life in these patients by increasing family support and improving the symptoms of the disease.