Introduction:

The aim of the study was to assess the qua­lity of life in women diagnosed with breast cancer.

Material and methods:

The study included a group of 208 women. 105 of them were diagnosed with breast cancer – they constituted the research group. The remaining 103 participants, representing the control group, were healthy, i.e. they were not diagnosed with breast cancer. To carry out the study a diagnostic survey method was used comprising the author’s questionnaire and 2 standardized questionnaires: EORTC QLQ-C30 and QLQ-BR23, which were used with the permission of the EORTC.

Results:

The conducted analysis showed that people from the control group had a higher quality of life in terms of physical functioning than people diagnosed with breast cancer. The overall quality of life in social roles was higher in the control group than in the group of women diagnosed with breast cancer.

Conclusions:

The quality of life in women with breast cancer is reduced compared to healthy women. Breast cancer significantly affects the functioning of women in the physical, social, cognitive, and emotional spheres. The general health condition of women with diagnosed breast cancer is lower than that of women who do not suffer from breast cancer. Women with diagnosed breast cancer exhibited lower quality of life, related to body image and sexual functioning, they were less satisfied with sex, and they had lower prospects for the future, compared to healthy woman.