Evaluation of Quality of Life of Breast Cancer Patient Nextof-kin in Turkey

Abstract

<br/><b>Introduction</b>: Quality of life (QoL) issues are of importance in relatives of women with breast cancer (BC)ascaregivers in neglecting their own needs due to care of a patient and also as women regarding the potential riskof themselves developing BC. The objectives in the present study were to compare the QoL of female relatives ofwomen in treatment for breast cancer. To date, no study had examined multi-dimensional QoL in accompanyingpeople as compared them into two groups of female relatives whose first degree and second degree. <br/><b>Methods</b>:QoL of female relatives was assessed using the Quality of Life-Family Version (QOL-FV) scale. Relationshipsbetween socio-demographic characteristics and QoL scores were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U, KruskalWallis and Crosstabs tests. <br/><b>Results</b>: The mean age of the female relatives was 37.6 years, and nearly 48% had auniversity education. It was found that first degree relatives had worse QoL in all domains except physical wellbeingthan second degree relatives. <br/><b>Conclusion</b>: This study showed that being female relatives of BC, especiallyfirst-degree, affect QoL negatively. Health care providers are of an important role in the stage of informationrelated to genetic influence of BC.