an assessment of quality of life in breast cancer patients using eortc qlq c30/+br23 questionnaire

background: breast cancer is the most common type of cancer among women all over the world and breast cancer is a disease where quality of life (qol) has become a part of evaluation criteria for cancer therapy. the objective of this study was to evaluate the quality of life (qol) in breast cancer patients and its association with other factors. eortc qlq c30/+br23 (european organization for research and treatment of cancer) questionnaire was to quantify the quality of life of breast cancer patients. methods: two hundreds consecutive patients of breast cancer from department of clinical oncology mayo hospital kemu lahore during may 2009 to november 2009 were enrolled in this study. we analyzed the impact of certain factors on qol. results: the mean age of patients was 46.3±9.52 years with global health status (ghs) quality of life score 48.33±27.77, in younger women better quality of life was observed than older patients (46.62 versus 42.30, p<0.05). in univariare analysis, body image, emotional functioning showed positive relationship while breast symptoms, arm symptoms and up-set by hair loss showed a negative relationship with global health status qol scale (p<0.05). in multivariate analysis fatigue, pain, body image, breast symptoms were found significant predictors of qol in breast cancer patients (p<0.05). conclusions: this study showed poor qol index in breast cancer patients and also investigated the strength of relationship between ghs qol and other demographic factors (age, marital status, education) with eortc-qlq-c-30/+br23 subscales which were found significant. key words: breast cancer patients; quality of life; eortc qlq-c30/+br-23; regression analysis references 1. ferlay j, bray f, pisani pand, parkin d m. globocan (2002). cancer incidence, mortality and prevalence worldwide. iarc cancer base no. 5, version 2.0. iarc press. lyon. 2004. 2. sasco aj. epidemiology of breast cancer: an environmental disease? 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