Quality of life in women with breast cancer in Turkey

Purpose: To determine quality of life (QoL) of Turkish women with breast cancer, and to examine whether QoL was related to sociodemographic or clinical variables. Design: This descriptive study was conducted with a convenience sample of 72 Turkish women with breast cancer recruited from two hospitals in Turkey. Methods: The data were collected using a questionnaire, the Quality of Life Scale (QoLS), and the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), and were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Findings: Two sociodemographic variables (educational background and employment status) were related to QoL of women with breast cancer. No statistically significant difference was found between patients with and without pain on scores obtained from the overall QoLS. Conclusions: The mean scores of total scale and subscales related to QoL perceived by women were considered to be moderately high. However, findings showed that educational level, employment status, and level of pain affected the level of QoL in Turkish women with breast cancer in varying degrees. Further studies are needed to determine specific effects of sociodemographic and clinical variables on QoL.