Body Image, Life Satisfaction and Associated Factors Among Women in Sweden having Undergone Mastectomy after Breast Cancer

Abstract Background: Women having undergone mastectomy due to breast cancer have experience which is very much individual and contextual. In order to facilitate efforts to understand the women and improve their quality of life, the aim of this study was to investigate body image, life satisfaction and associated factors among women having undergone mastectomy.Methods: Four hundred and eighty-one women in Sweden having undergone mastectomy after breast cancer were enrolled in a descriptive cross-sectional study. Each participant completed a questionnaire comprising socio-demographic characteristics, social support, body image and life satisfaction. Multiple linear regression analyses estimated relationships between socio-demographic characteristics, information support, social support, and treatment variables, and continuous outcome variables such as body image and life satisfaction).Results: Body image was associated with all dimensions of life satisfaction. Lower age, underlying disease, chemotherapy and breast reconstruction increased body image dissatisfaction, while treatment options were factors associated with life satisfaction. Total social support was a factor that increased life satisfaction in the dimensions of physical symptoms, sickness impact and quality of close friend relationship.Conclusion: The findings highlight that some socio-demographic characteristics, treatment options and social support were associated with body image dissatisfaction and life dissatisfaction among the women with breast cancer after mastectomy. This can increase healthcare professionals’ understanding of women with breast cancer after treatment. They should provide effective information, focus attention on the women’s needs, and prepare intervention programs that make the women cope with their life situations during follow-up care.