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The risk factors and prevalence of upper extremity impairments and an analysis of effects of lymphoedema and other impairments on the quality of life of breast cancer patients
Author(s) -
Kibar S.,
Dalyan Aras M.,
Ünsal Delialioğlu S.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
european journal of cancer care
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.849
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1365-2354
pISSN - 0961-5423
DOI - 10.1111/ecc.12433
Subject(s) - medicine , quality of life (healthcare) , breast cancer , lymphedema , physical therapy , affect (linguistics) , cross sectional study , multivariate analysis , risk factor , upper limb , range of motion , cancer , surgery , pathology , linguistics , philosophy , nursing
This study aimed to determine the prevalence and identify the risk factors associated with upper extremity impairments ( UEI s) in breast cancer patients and to investigate the degree to which these impairments and other characteristics influence quality of life (QoL). A total of 201 women over the age of 18 who underwent breast cancer treatment at least 6 months were included in this cross‐sectional study. All of the patients were evaluated for the presence of lymphoedema and any UEI s. UEI s divided into five subgroups: pain, restriction of shoulder range of motion ( ROM ), numbness and heaviness, loss of strength, and sensory deficit. QoL of the patients was evaluated by SF ‐36. The prevalence of the upper extremity impairments was as follows: pain 31.8%, restriction of shoulder ROM 23.9%, numbness and heaviness 35.3%, loss of strength 8.5%, and sensory deficit 18.4%. Furthermore, lymphoedema was seen in 41.3% of patients. The multivariate model showed that lymphoedema is the only statistically significant risk factor that affects the development of UEI s ( P = 0.001). However, it also revealed that lymphoedema ( P = 0.001) and increased age negatively affect QoL, whereas prolongation of the follow‐up period has a favourable impact ( P = 0.016). Therefore, lymphoedema diminishes QoL via an increased number of UEI s.