title: The quality of life of African American women with breast cancer.
abstract: The objectives of this study were to describe the quality of life of African American women with breast cancer and test a model of factors that may affect their quality of life. A stress-coping framework that included person (demographics, current concerns, and optimism), social resources (family functioning), and illness-related factors (symptom distress, medical characteristics), as well as appraisal of illness and quality of life, was used to guide this exploratory, cross-sectional study. Participants included 98 African American women who were approximately 4 years postdiagnosis. The women reported a fairly high quality of life, were generally optimistic, and had effective family functioning. Although symptom distress was generally low, a sizable number of women reported problems with energy loss, sleep disturbances, and pain. The model explained 75% of the variance in quality of life, with appraisal, family functioning, symptom distress, and recurrence status each explaining a significant amount of the variance. Current concerns had an indirect effect on quality of life that was mediated by appraisal. These findings underscore the importance of helping women foster a positive appraisal of their illness, manage current concerns, maintain family functioning, and reduce symptom distress, because each of these factors indirectly or directly affects their quality of life.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48109, USA.
authors.forename: L L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Northouse
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Caffey
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Deichelbohrer
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Guziatek-Trojniak
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: West
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kershaw
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mood
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology*; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009013:Morale; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011788:Quality of Life; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012647:Self-Assessment; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology; D014481:United States