Advanced Clinical Stage at Diagnosis of Breast Cancer Is Associated with Poorer Health-Related Quality of Life: A Cross-Sectional Study

OBJECTIVE: To describe the clinical stage in women diagnosed with breast cancer and the association between clinical stage and Health-related quality of life (HRQoL). MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study involving women diagnosed with breast cancer. HRQoL was assessed with European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer 30-Item Quality of Life Questionnaire and the Quality of Life Questionnaire Breast Cancer 23. The principal exposure was clinical stage (<IIB versus ≥IIB). Simple linear regression was performed and variables with p<0.20 were selected for the multiple linear regression. The final model was composed of statistically significant variables (p<0.05). RESULTS: In total, 302 women were included. The majority (58.9%) had been diagnosed with advanced stage cancer (≥IIB). Those at an advanced clinical stage had poorer role functioning (p=0.029), pain (p<0.001), and symptoms in the breast (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: Advanced clinical stage at diagnosis was found to be associated with worse health-related quality of life in breast cancer patients.