Research Article
Quality of Life Outcomes in Patients with Breast Cancer in an Amazon City: The Impact of Breast Reconstruction
Aljerry Dias do Rêgo1*, Larissa Daniele Machado Góes2, Caroline Souza de Almeida2, Atie Calado Ribeiro2, Camila Alves Corrêa Neiva2 and Leda do Socorro Gonçalves Farias Rêgo31Gynecology-Obstetrics, Specialist in Urogynecology and Professor of the Federal University of Amapá, Macapá, Amapá, Brazil
2Federal University of Amapá, Macapá, Amapá, Brazil
3Gynecology-Obstetrics, Specialist in Mastology, Federal University of Amapá, Macapá, Amapá, Brazil
- *Corresponding Author:
- Aljerry Dias do Rêgo
Gynecologist-Obstetrician, Specialist in Urogynecology and Professor of the Federal University of Amapá
Macapá, Amapá, Brazil
Tel: (96) 322 5-2 824
E-mail: aljerry@uol.com.br
Received date: August 07, 2017; Accepted date: August 30, 2017; Published date: September 05, 2017
Citation: do Rêgo AD, Machado GLD, de Almeida SC, Ribeiro AC, Corrêa NCA, et al. (2017) Quality of Life Outcomes in Patients with Breast Cancer in an Amazon City: The Impact of Breast Reconstruction. J Palliat Care Med 7:317. doi:10.4172/2165-7386.1000317
Copyright: © 2017 do Rêgo AD, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Introduction: Malignant are considered a public health problem due to the high rates of morbidity and mortality presented worldwide, particularly those associated with breast cancer.
Methods: This is a qualitative exploratory study that included 32 volunteers affected by breast cancer who were followed up at a public brazilian hospital in Macapá city. The volunteers were divided into two groups: group 1 (n=16) consisting of mastectomized volunteers and group 2 (n=16) by mastectomized volunteers with breast reconstruction; both groups were evaluated using the SF-36 (Medical Outcomes Study 36).
Results: The results showed that mastectomized women without breast reconstruction presented a very low level of quality of life and those who did breast reconstruction presented better mean scores in all aspects evaluated when compared to the group without reconstruction (except in the social aspect, p>0.05). However, even those with breast reconstruction had an important impact in all areas of the quality of life questionnaire.
Conclusions: The domains analysis made it possible to understand the negative impact that mastectomy and breast reconstruction have on the woman's life, besides noting that the maintenance of an esthetic state closer to normality is determinant for the quality of life of these women. However, new studies must be carried out to obtain statistically more relevant values.
