Uneven recovery patterns of compromised health-related quality of life (EQ-5D-3L) domains for breast Cancer survivors: A comparative study

Background: Although several studies have evaluated health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in breast cancer survivors, few have compared HRQoL between breast cancer survivors and an age-matched general population in terms of improvement patterns according to time after surgery. Thus, we compared the postoperative changes in HRQoL in breast cancer survivors with those of age-matched general population groups using the EuroQoL five-dimension three-level questionnaire (EQ-5D-3L). Methods: EQ-5D-3L questionnaires were obtained from 686 breast cancer survivors during follow-up visits. They were divided into five groups according to time after surgery: 0-5months, 6-11months, 12-35months, 36-59months, and≥60months. Their EQ-5D-3L data, covering five dimensions (mobility, self-care, usual activities, pain/discomfort, and anxiety/depression), were compared with those of age-matched general population groups. Results: The mean EQ-5D-3L index of breast cancer survivors was high in group with longer time after surgery and the mean EQ-5D-3L index of breast cancer group over 5years after surgery was similar to that of an age-matched general population (0.919 vs 0.928, p=0.305). Although there were deficits in all dimensions of breast cancer survivors, motility eventually exceeded that of general population groups and self-care and usual activities of groups over 3years after surgery matched those of general population however, pain/discomfort and anxiety/depression of survivors over 5years after surgery remained worse than those of the general population (p=0.028, p<0.001). Conclusions: Motility, self-care, and usual activities decreased in the early postoperative period for breast cancer survivors but showed recovery after 3years. However, pain/discomfort and anxiety/depression remained poorer in these patients than in the general population for many years.