Quality of life of women with breast cancer undergoing treatment and follow-up at King Salman Armed Forces Hospital in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia

Figures & data

Table 1 Sociodemographic characteristics of the study participants (n=96)

Characteristic		Number	Percentage
Age (years)	18–27	28	29.2
	28–37	22	22.9
	38–47	16	16.7
	>48	30	31.3
	Total	96	100
Marital status	Single	8	8.3
	Married	34	35.4
	Divorced	23	24.0
	Widowed	31	32.3
	Total	96	100
Education level	No schooling	4	4.2
	Primary school	26	27.1
	Secondary school	41	42.7
	Graduate level	16	16.7
	Postgraduate level	9	9.4
	Total	96	100
Occupation	Employed	24	25.0
	Not Employed	72	75.0
	Total	96	100
Income (SAR)	<5000	17	17.7
	5001–1000	44	45.8
	10001–15000	23	24.0
	15001–20000	7	7.3
	20000	5	5.2
	Total	96	100
Cancer stage	I/II	39	40.6
	III/IV	57	59.4
	Total	96	100
Multiple tumors	Yes	19	19.8
	No	77	80.2
	Total	96	100
Metastasis	Yes	12	12.5
	No	84	87.5
	Total	96	100
Cancer surgery	Yes	71	74.0
	No	25	26.0
	Total	96	100
Chemotherapy	Yes	42	43.8
	No	54	56.3
	Total	96	100
Radiation	Yes	46	47.9
	No	50	52.1
	Total	96	100
Immunotherapy	Yes	57	59.4
	No	39	40.6
	Total	96	100

Table 2 QOL-BC (Items by subscale) – N=96

Characteristic				Mean	SD
Physical well-being		Mean	SD
1	Fatigue	7.71	1.62	7.65	0.71
2	Appetite changes	7.68	1.72
3	Aches or pain	7.65	1.65
4	Sleep changes	7.85	1.68
5	Weight gain	7.74	1.68
6	Vaginal dryness/menopausal symptoms	7.56	1.72
7	Menstrual changes or fertility	7.38	1.74
8	Overall physical health	7.57	1.75
Psychological well-being		Mean	SD
9	Coping with disease	6.45	2.24	7.09	0.30
10	Coping with treatment	7.52	1.65
11	QOL	7.91	1.54
12	Happiness	6.72	2.15
13	Control	8.57	1.11
14	Satisfaction	6.38	2.20
15	Concentration/memory	6.36	1.05
16	Usefulness	7.18	1.41
17	Appearance	6.65	1.13
18	Self-concept	6.61	1.10
19	Initial diagnosis distress	6.54	1.11
20	Chemotherapy distress	6.37	2.09
21	Radiation distress	6.59	1.01
22	Surgery distress	6.65	1.02
23	Treatment completion distress	6.38	1.14
24	Anxiety	6.14	1.03
25	Depression	6.50	1.04
26	Fear of future diagnostic tests	6.39	1.07
27	Fear of a second cancer	8.54	1.15
28	Fear of recurrence	8.47	1.06
29	Fear of metastasis	8.53	1.12
30	Normal life	8.54	1.16
Social well-being		Mean	SD
31	Family distress	6.88	1.84	7.02	0.41
32	Support/Others	6.93	1.73
33	Personal relationships	6.95	1.93
34	Sexuality	7.31	1.86
35	Employment	7.18	2.02
36	Home activities	7.46	1.88
37	Feeling isolated	7.18	1.76
38	Concern for daughter/close female relatives	7.09	1.64
39	Financial burden	7.12	1.63
Spiritual well-being		Mean	SD	7.19	0.66
40	Religious activities	6.80	1.85
41	Spiritual activities	7.08	1.72
42	Spiritual life changed	7.22	1.68
43	Uncertainty	7.14	1.74
44	Positive changes	7.29	1.85
45	Life purpose/Mission	7.29	1.71
46	Hopefulness	7.50	1.49

Table 3 QOL subscale domain scores in relation to demographic and clinical characteristics of the patients

		Physical well-being			Psychological well-being			Social well-being			Spiritual well-being
		Mean	SD	P-value	Mean	SD	P-value	Mean	SD	P-value	Mean	SD	P-value
Age (years)	18–27	7.61	0.66	0.099	7.04	0.24	0.815	7.05	0.44	0.154	7.25	0.60	0.180
	28–37	7.12	0.63		7.10	0.29		7.12	0.43		7.26	0.79
	38–47	7.48	0.53		7.11	0.31		6.82	0.42		6.85	0.59
	>48	8.18	0.53		7.12	0.36		7.03	0.33		7.25	0.61
Marital status	Single	7.26	0.47	0.001	7.14	0.18	0.852	7.15	0.44	0.029	7.33	0.68	0.205
	Married	7.32	0.67		7.07	0.28		7.13	0.41		7.24	0.68
	Divorced	7.56	0.66		7.06	0.30		6.82	0.43		6.93	0.64
	Widowed	8.18	0.52		7.12	0.35		7.01	0.33		7.28	0.62
Education	No schooling	7.67	0.53	0.366	6.95	0.45	0.463	7.14	0.62	0.733	6.67	0.91	0.064
	Primary school	7.71	0.72		7.04	0.31		7.05	0.38		7.11	0.65
	Secondary school	7.50	0.74		7.12	0.26		7.04	0.44	7.39	0.62
	Graduate level	7.75	0.74		7.18	0.27		6.97	0.31		7.09	0.62
	Postgraduate	7.98	0.45		7.03	0.42		6.87	0.43	6.88	0.64
Occupation	Employed	7.64	0.66	0.928	7.23	0.29	0.012	7.03	0.36	0.831	7.34	0.52	0.193
	Not employed	7.66	0.73		7.05	0.29		7.01	0.42		7.14	0.69
Cancer stage	I/II	7.93	0.70	0.001	7.07	0.31	0.675	6.97	0.38	0.352	7.20	0.73	0.873
	III/IV	7.46	0.65		7.10	0.30		7.05	0.42		7.18	0.61
Multiple tumors	Yes	7.55	0.64	0.500	7.11	0.40	0.813	7.05	0.44	0.728	7.18	0.74	0.933
	No	7.68	0.72		7.09	0.27		7.01	0.40		7.19	0.64
Metastasis	Yes	7.55	0.79	0.609	7.10	0.24	0.916	6.94	0.43	0.486	7.11	0.64	0.686
	No	7.67	0.70		7.09	0.31		7.03	0.40		7.20	0.66
Cancer surgery	Yes	7.58	0.72	0.105	7.08	0.29	0.760	7.04	0.43	0.365	7.24	0.61	0.220
	No	7.85	0.63		7.11	0.34		6.95	0.33		7.05	0.78
Chemotherapy	Yes	7.78	0.71	0.127	7.10	0.28	0.804	6.95	0.39	0.135	7.34	0.57	0.043
	No	7.55	0.70		7.08	0.32		7.07	0.42		7.07	0.70
Radiation	Yes	7.60	0.73	0.470	7.08	0.33	0.771	7.01	0.41	0.893	7.34	0.66	0.033
	No	7.70	0.69		7.10	0.28		7.02	0.41		7.05	0.63
Immunotherapy	Yes	7.57	0.66	0.184	7.08	0.28	0.691	7.03	0.42	0.818	7.20	0.68	0.880
	No	7.77	0.76		7.11	0.33		7.01	0.40		7.17	0.64