Health-Related Quality of Life of Women with Breast Cancer Undergoing Radiotherapy: Integrative Literature Review

Abstract

Introduction: Breast cancer is the leading cause of death by cancer in Brazilian women. Radiotherapy is a therapeutic modality frequently used in the treatment of breast cancer. Although little invasive, it causes side effects, interfering in the Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL). Objective: To investigate the evidence about the HRQoL of women with breast cancer undergoing radiotherapy treatment. Method: Integrative review of the literature. The search for studies took place in August 2020 in the electronic databases: CINAHL and MEDLINE (PubMed). Results: The studies analyzed addressed the side effects of radiotherapy treatment and presented evidence of effective practices to minimize them and improve the HRQoL. The final sample consisted of 16 articles, from which three categories which influenced the Quality of Life were selected: adverse effects of radiotherapy (75%), integrative and complementary therapies (19%) and physical activity (6%). Conclusion: It is expected that the synthesis of the studies analyzed are instrumental to improve the professionals’ clinical practice who provide care for women with breast cancer undergoing radiotherapy.