Uneven recovery patterns of compromised health-related quality of life (EQ-5D-3 L) domains for breast Cancer survivors: a comparative study

Abstract

2018 * Received: 26 October 2017 * Accepted: 2 July 2018 * Published: 20 July 2018 Abstract Background Although several studies have evaluated health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in breast cancer survivors, few have compared HRQoL between breast cancer survivors and an age-matched general population in terms of improvement patterns according to time after surgery. [...]we compared the postoperative changes in HRQoL in breast cancer survivors with those of age-matched general population groups using the EuroQoL five-dimension three-level questionnaire (EQ-5D-3 L). [...]breast cancer patients experience various health-related quality of life (HRQoL) changes during their cancer journey, which encompasses diagnosis, treatment, long-term follow-up, and recurrence. [...]these outcomes revealed the change of HRQoL according to EQ-5D dimension and which level of the general population the patients’ HRQoL reached. [...]this study provided the EQ-5D index, which could be used as a utility score to assess the efficiency of intervention programs provided to breast cancer survivors in future work. [...]the HRQoL level of the breast cancer group even over 5 years after surgery in the pain and psychological aspect was still lower than that of the age-matched general population group, even though the HRQoL of the physical area was similar to that of the general population. [...]to improve the HRQoL of breast cancer patients, tailored intervention programs that depend on time after surgery and dimension should be designed.