Quality of Life and Patient Satisfaction After Breast Cancer Surgery: BREAST-Q analysis

Abstract Purpose Conceptions of quality of life (QoL) and patient satisfaction are important to improve quality of care in breast cancer patients. The purpose of this study was to compare QoL and patient satisfaction using the BREAST-Q among patients who underwent breast-conserving surgery (BCS) or nipple-sparing mastectomy (NSM) for breast cancer treatment.Methods We performed a cross-sectional study using a database of patients who underwent BCS (n=75) or NSM (n=70), operated by the same surgeon, between January 2017 and December 2017. Clinical-pathological data were assessed from the medical record. All patients filled out the BREAST-Q questionary. A difference of 0.5 standard deviation between groups was considered clinically relevant. Effect size was estimated for each domain of BREAST-Q in both groups.Results Patients in the NSM group were younger at the time of surgery than those in the BCS group, 45.4 vs. 55.7 years, respectively (p<0,05). There was no global difference in QoL and Patient Satisfaction among the groups. Patients in BCS group presented significantly higher scores related to ‘physical well-being’ compared to the NSM group, 83.2 vs. 70.5 (p<0.05), as well as the ‘satisfaction with their breasts’, scoring 81.2 vs. 73.1 (p<0.05). Satisfaction with care was high and not statistically different between groups.Conclusion Our study shows no difference in global QoL and patients’ satisfaction among women who underwent BCS and NSM for breast cancer treatment. Satisfaction with care was extremely high, reassuring the importance of the support offered by the team, and patient's involvement in decision-making process.