Sociodemographic Characterization and Evaluation of Quality of Life in Women with Breast Cancer Undergoing Adjuvant Chemotherapy

Abstract

Introduction: Evaluating Quality of Life (QL) is an important auxiliary in clinical practice. Objective: Evaluate the quality of life (QOL) in women with breast cancer and to characterize them as to socio-demographic aspects during adjuvant chemotherapy. Method: An exploratory descriptive study with a quantitative approach, which used two instruments: one for socio-demographic evaluation and another for QoL (EORTC QLQ-30). The sample consisted of 14 patients treated at the oncology outpatient clinic of a university hospital in Minas Gerais, from April to October 2011.Results: The majority of the population has white skin color (57.1%), are married (64.3%) and there was a predominance of women with incomplete primary level (35.7%) and complete secondary level (35.7%). Monthly family income ranged from 2 to 6 minimum wages (78.6%). As to origin, 50% are from Uberlandia (50%) and outside Uberlandia (50%). The therapeutic regimen was predominant use of the FAC (50%) followed by the CMF scheme (28.6%). When we evaluated separately the areas of physical, emotional and cognitive function, QoL was worsened from the beginning towards the end of treatment. Regarding the physical aspects, all women had lower QoL. In assessing the extent of overall health /quality of life (QOL/MGS), a slight reduction was observed, even with a positive evaluation of patients throughout the study. Conclusion: The set of sample results showed characteristics similar to other studies, and show that, despite all the scientifically proven benefits of adjuvant chemotherapy, its negative impact on QOL throughout the treatment of cancer patients breast cancer treated with adjuvant chemotherapy can be noted.