Quality of Life among Moroccan Women Undergoing Treatment of Breast Cancer

Abstract

Introduction: The aim of this study was to evaluate quality of life of Moroccan women with breast cancer and studied its association with clinical and demographic characteristics. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out from July 2014 to July 2015 at the National Institute of Oncology in Rabat. The sample consisted of 400 patients with breast cancer recruited for face-to-face interviews. Data were collected using a questionnaire addressing personal and clinical characteristics and Moroccan versions of EORTC QLQ C30 and BR 23 to measure quality of life. Results: The mean age of participants was 48.2years ±10.2. Most of them were married (61%), illiterate (65%) and the majority (86%) were housewives.  Participants scored fairly well on global health status/QOL scale (Mean 53.4; SD 17.7).Cognitive functioning scored the highest with a mean of 64.6 on a scale of 100. Whereas role functioning scored the lowest (25.5). For the BR-23, all functional scales received scores below 50. Regression analyses showed that age, marital status, chemotherapy, surgery and radiotherapy were statistically significant in predicting patient’s quality of life. Conclusions: Our finding highlighted functional, psychological and social difficulties with which live Moroccan patients with breast cancer.