Quality of life of breast cancer patients in Amhara region, Ethiopia: A cross-sectional study

TL;DR

This study examines the quality of life among breast cancer patients in Ethiopia's Amhara region and identifies factors linked to poor outcomes.

Contribution

The study provides new insights into QoL factors for breast cancer patients in a developing region with limited prior data.

Findings

68.4% of breast cancer patients in Amhara region had poor quality of life.

Being unmarried, poor, non-housewife, and experiencing dyspnea or insomnia were significantly associated with poor QoL.

Functional component scores of QoL were generally low among participants.

Abstract

Although breast cancer has a markedly higher incidence in developed countries, seven out of ten deaths occur in developing countries, including Ethiopia. However, there is a limited information on the quality of life (QoL) among breast cancer patients in Ethiopia, notably in the Amhara region. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the QoL and its associated factors among patients with breast cancer in the Amhara Region, Ethiopia.

An institutional based cross-sectional study was conducted from 25th March 2019 to 7th July 2019. A systematically selected sample of 256 breast cancer patients were participated in the study. A standardized interviewer-administered Amharic version questionnaire was used to collect the data. We used the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer quality of life questionnaire core 30 (EORTC QLQ C30) and breast cancer supplementary measure (QLQ-BR23) to measure QoL. The data were analyzed by SPSS version 23. A binary logistic regression model was fitted to identify the predictors of QoL. The adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI) was reported to show the strength of the association.

Sixty-eight percent of breast cancer patients had poor QoL (68.4%; 95% CI: 62.5–73.8). The mean score of QoL was 70.6 (standard deviation (SD) ±13.9; 95% CI: 69.0–72.4). All functional component scores were less than 75 on the symptom scale. Diarrhea (11.6), constipation (17.5), and dyspnea (24.7) were less noticeable symptoms. Being out of marriage (AOR = 2.59, 95% CI: 1.32–5.07), being poor (AOR = 2.39, 95%CI: 1.32–5.03), being non-housewife (AOR = 3.25, 95% CI: 1.16–7.22), and being complaints of dyspnea (AOR = 3.48, 95% CI: 1.79–6.79), and insomnia (AOR = 2.03, 95% CI: 1.05–3.91) were significantly associated with QoL.

The proportion of poor QoL among breast cancer patients was high. Health care professionals should give attention to breast cancer patients who are out of marriage, poor and non-housewife while offering the recommended treatment courses.

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