Socio-demography and medical history as predictors of health-related quality of life of breast cancer survivors.
BACKGROUND
Even after completion of conventional treatment, breast cancer survivors continue to exhibit a variety of psychological and physical symptoms, affecting their quality of life. The study aimed to investigate the relationship between socio-demography, medical characteristics and health-related quality of life (HR-QOL) of a sample of breast cancer survivors in Malaysia.


METHODS
This pilot cross-sectional survey was conducted among breast cancer survivors (n=40) who were members of Breast Cancer Support Group Centre Johor Bahru. A validated self-administered questionnaire was used to identify the relationships between socio-demography, medical characteristics and HR-QOL of the participants.


RESULTS
Living with family and completion of treatment were significant predictive factors of self-rated QOL, while living with family and ever giving birth significantly predicted satisfaction with health and physical health. Psychological health had moderate correlations with number of children and early cancer stage. Survivors' higher personal income (>MYR4,500) was the only significant predictor of social relationship, while age, income more than MYR4,500 and giving birth significantly predicted environment domain score.


CONCLUSIONS
The findings suggested the survivors coped better in all four HR-QOL domains if they were married, lived with family, had children and were employed.
Clinical School Johor Bahru, Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Monash University Malaysia, Johor Bahru, Malaysia E-mail : munir.qureshi@monash.edu.
Amutha
A
Ramadas
Ahmad Munir
AM
Qureshi
Nisha Angela
NA
Dominic
Nevein Philip
NP
Botross
Amgad
A
Riad
Valliammai Jayanthi
VJ
Thirunavuk Arasoo
Soman
S
Elangovan
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003657:Decision Making; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008487:Medical History Taking; D008875:Middle Aged; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011379:Prognosis; D011788:Quality of Life; D012944:Social Support; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D015996:Survival Rate; D017741:Survivors / Q000523:psychology*