Qualidade de vida e satisfação pessoal de pacientes submetidas ao tratamento cirúrgico do câncer de mama : análise pelo questionário Breast-Q

Abstract

Breast cancer is a heterogeneous group of diseases, having different behaviors and treatment modalities. The morbidity of clinical and surgical treatment has several consequences that affect patient’s quality of life, a topic that is still little addressed in medical practice. In recent decades, through the development of patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs), there is growing acceptance of the value of assessing physical, psychological and social well-being in this group. To know the satisfaction and outcomes related to the quality of life of patients undergoing surgical treatment for breast cancer is extremely important, since recognizing patient's perception could positively influence disease’s treatment. The purpose of this study was to compare QoL and patient satisfaction using the BREAST-Q among patients who underwent breast-conserving surgery (BCS) or nipple-sparing mastectomy (NSM) for breast cancer treatment. The study's hypothesis is that personal satisfaction and the QoL of the groups are not statistically different between groups. We performed a cross-sectional study using a database of patients who underwent BCS (n=75) or NSM (n=70), operated by the same surgeon, between January 2017 and December 2017. Clinical-pathological data were assessed from the medical record. All patients filled out the BREAST-Q questionary and the scores for each domain were compared between the groups. Patients in the NSM group were younger at the time of surgery than those in the BCS group, 45.4 vs. 55.7 years, respectively (p<0.05). There was no global difference in QoL and Patient Satisfaction among the groups. Patients in BCS group presented significantly higher scores related to ‘physical well-being’ compared to the NSM group, 83.2 vs. 70.5 (p<0.05), as well as the ‘satisfaction with their breasts’, scoring 81.2 vs. 73.1 (p<0.05). Satisfaction with care was high and not statistically different between groups, reassuring the importance of the support offered by the team, and patient's involvement in decision-making process.