engleski

Quality of life in women with breast cancer - the role of sexual Quality of life, Coping Mechanism, depression and anxiety.

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Quality of life (QoL) in patients with breast cancer is an important outcome. Sexuality is a central aspect of being human, and it is an important aspect of QoL, and cancer treatments often cause sexual dysfunction. The aim of this study was to examine QoL in women with breast cancer and to explore the role of sexual QoL, coping mechanism, depression, and anxiety in explaining and predicting QoL. METHODS: The study involved 240 women with breast cancer, 1 year after treatment. Median age was 42. Questionnaires EORTC QoL C-30, Sexual QoL Questionnaire, BDI, STAI, and CISS were used for this purpose. RESULTS: Over 60% of women have some sexual issues, and mostly rated their sexual QoL as unsatisfactory. We found a positive correlation between QoL and sexual QoL (p=0.000)and negativecorrelations betweendepression, and anxiety and QoL (p=0.000 ; p=0.000) as well as a negative correlation between QoL and avoidance as coping mechanism (p=0.002) and positive correlations between QoL and task-oriented coping and emotionoriented coping (p=0.003 ; p=0.001). The regression model indicates that depression, anxiety, sexual QoL, and coping mechanisms were predictive of global QoL (R=0.684 ; p=0.000). CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggested that by knowing the level of depression, anxiety, sexual QoL, and which coping mechanism a person uses, we can predict QoL in women with breast cancer. Research Implications: QoL is a multidimensional construct consisting of a lot of variables which can affect global QoL. For the further research of QoL, it will be importantto use a longitudinal approach for this construct. Practice Implications: By knowing which variables can affect QoL, a preventive program can be made to improve outcomes.

quality of life, breast cancer, anxiety, depression, coping mechanism

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