The musculoskeletal pain is one of the leading health problems among women. This study aims to examine the associations between musculoskeletal pain and health-related quality of life (HR-QOL) among breast cancer patients and women without a history of breast cancer.
A cross-sectional study was conducted among 68 breast cancer patients for an average of 3.5 years and 137 postmenopausal women without a history of cancer. Musculoskeletal pain was assessed using a 10-cm visual analog scale; HR-QOL was examined using the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form (SF-36) health survey. Linear regression was used to estimate the associations between pain and HR-QOL in both groups.
Approximately 64 % of the breast cancer patients andwomen in the comparison group reported musculoskeletal pain.Among women with breast cancer, those with pain had significantlylower HR-QOL scores in the physical (52.2 vs. 42.6;p<0.001) and mental (52.7 vs. 45.5; p=0.01) component summary scores compared with those without pain. In the comparisongroup, pain was associated with significantly lower scores in the physical (55.4 vs. 46.0; p<0.001), but not the mental, component summary score (52.1 vs. 52.4; p=0.82). The significantassociations between pain and HR-QOL persisted afterconfounder adjustment in both groups. Among women withsimilar severity of pain, breast cancer patients reported significantlylower HR-QOL in the mental summary component compared with the women in the comparison group.
Among breast cancer patients, musculoskeletal pain adversely affects both mental and physical components of HR-QOL. Preventing or treating musculoskeletal pain may improve overall HR-QOL among breast cancer patients.
The author.
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The author has declared no conflicts of interest.