Self-perceived health status of Irish breast cancer survivors.
BACKGROUND
There is a paucity of data on the health status of breast cancer survivors.


OBJECTIVE
To measure the self-perceived health status of a cohort of breast cancer survivors by means of the SF-36 questionnaire.


METHODS
The questionnaire was administered to 120 survey participants. Findings were compared with those of an external comparison group.


RESULTS
The health status of the survey participants was found to be significantly better than that of the comparison group on four of the eight SF-36 dimensions--social functioning, mental health, vitality and general health perceptions.


CONCLUSIONS
The self-perceived health status of breast cancer survivors merits further research in the Irish context. Inclusion of the SF-36 questionnaire as an outcome measure is recommended.
O'Sullivan
M B
MB
Department of Public Health, Southern Health Board, Wilton, Cork, Ireland. osullivanm@shb.ie
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D012494:Sampling Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires