Differences in the quality of life of women before and after breast reconstruction measured with the use of EORTC QLQ-C 30 and EORTC QLQ-BR 23 scale

Introduction: About 13% of Polish women die every year because of breast cancer. The treatment of breast cancer is becoming increasingly less invasive but it is still long-lasting and causes a lot of side effects. Today, in the case of some women, if there are no contraindications, it is possible to perform breast reconstruction.

Aim of the study: The purpose of the research was to determine whether there are differences in the assessment of the quality of life among women after mastectomy and breast reconstruction.

Material and methods: The research covered a group of 241 women from oncology hospitals in Lublin. 55.19% (n = 133) of them had mastectomy, while 44.81% (n = 108) had breast reconstruction. During the research, the following questionnaires were used – EORTC QLQ-C30 and QLQ-BR23. Statistical analyses were conducted based on STATISTICA 8.0 Program, assuming a significance level of p < 0.05.

Results: The research shows that breast reconstruction has a significant positive effect on the assessment of the quality of life of women in the physical, emotional and social sphere, while it has no effect on the cognitive sphere.

Conclusions: The quality of life of women after breast reconstruction in most dimensions is assessed higher than in the case of women after mastectomy. If women knew that the treatment is now less invasive, it would probably contribute to a higher number of women deciding to undergo oncological treatment.