Health-Related Quality of Life and Disease Acceptance Among Women with Breast Cancer Pre- and Post-Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy.

Background/

Objective

The study aimed to evaluate disease acceptance and quality of life in women with breast cancer before and after receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

Methods

The study included 211 women diagnosed with breast cancer who underwent neoadjuvant treatment. The following measures were utilized: the EORTC QLQ-C30 and QLQ-BR23 modules for quality of life assessment, the Acceptance of Illness Scale (AIS) questionnaire for evaluating disease acceptance, and a proprietary questionnaire. Assessments were conducted one week before the first chemotherapy session and three weeks after completing the chemotherapy. Statistical analysis was performed using STATISTICA v. 13.

Results

The respondents exhibited an average acceptance of their disease, both before (28.2 pts) and after chemotherapy (25.5 pts). A decline in disease acceptance was observed in nearly 59.2% of the patients following chemotherapy. Higher levels of disease acceptance were associated with a better quality of life. The quality of life for the studied women decreased after neoadjuvant chemotherapy, particularly in the following areas: physical functioning (p = 0.0000), social functioning (p = 0.0000), body image assessment (p = 0.0000), sexual satisfaction (p = 0.0000), nausea and vomiting (p = 0.0000), fatigue (p = 0.0000), loss of appetite (p = 0.0000), insomnia (p = 0.0000), pain (p = 0.0000), hair loss (p = 0.0000), and side effects of systemic treatment (p = 0.0000).

Conclusions

Post-neoadjuvant chemotherapy, a decline in disease acceptance and quality of life was observed among women with breast cancer in comparison with their pre-treatment status. Higher levels of disease acceptance were associated with a better quality of life. These findings may facilitate the creation of a more tailored care approach for women during and after chemotherapy.