Year: 2025 | Month: October-December | Volume: 10 | Issue: 4 | Pages: 97-103
DOI: https://doi.org/10.52403/gijhsr.20250411
Life Beyond Surgery: Comparing Quality of Life after Breast Conservation and Modified Radical Mastectomy at a Selected Tertiary Care Hospital, Thrissur
Moly Thomas1, Prof. Dr. Rajee Reghunath2, Prof. Lakshmi G3
1Associate Professor, Department of Medical, Surgical Nursing, Amala College of Nursing, Kerala University of Health Sciences, Thrissur, India
2Principal, Department of Community Health Nursing, Amala College of Nursing, Kerala University of Health Sciences, Thrissur, India
3Professor, Department of Medical, Surgical Nursing, Amala College of Nursing, Kerala University of Health Sciences, Thrissur, India
Corresponding Author: Moly Thomas
ABSTRACT
Cancer poses numerous health risks for individuals, significantly diminishing their quality of life. Women all throughout the world die most often from breast cancer. There are two kinds of surgery for breast cancer: modified radical mastectomy (MRM) and breast conservation surgery (BCS). Health-related quality of life studies have been undertaken among diverse cohorts of breast cancer patients, due to their increased relevance regarding the loss of a vital organ, specifically the breast. The EORTC QLQ-C30 and EORTC QLQ-BR23 are standardized, comprehensive tools used to assess quality of life across a wide range of pertinent topics. The goal is to compare the quality of life of breast cancer patients who have breast conservation surgery with those who have modified radical mastectomy.
Methods: This descriptive analytical study included 45 breast cancer patients who received chemotherapy and surgical interventions, breast-conserving surgery or modified radical mastectomy, from October 17, 2023, to February 27, 2024. The primary objective was to compare the quality of life between these two groups. The structured questionnaire collected clinical and socio demographic data. The Shapiro test evaluated the normalcy of the data. The results show that patients who had breast-conserving surgery had far better somatic and role functioning than those who had modified radical mastectomy. The group that underwent breast-conserving surgery also had far lower fatigue scores (U=48, p=0.003), which means they were less tired.
Keywords: Breast cancer, Quality of life, mastectomy, breast conservation surgery, chemotherapy