Abstract
Goal of work
The aim of the study was to investigate if the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) model with clinical data from patients with breast-cancer-related lymphedema can predict their health-related quality of life (HRQL).
Materials and methods
Sixty-one patients with breast-cancer-related lymphedema were recruited. Data were collected from records, including age, type(s) of surgery, number of dissected lymph nodes and history of radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy, duration of lymphedema, and duration between surgery and enrollment. Excessive arm volume, average arm symptom, function of upper extremity (U/E), and HRQL were assessed four times during and after patients’ treatment of lymphedema.
Results
The ICF model accounted for 20.5% to 55.6% variance in each domain of HRQL. Activity and participation reflected by U/E function were the most important factor, significantly predicting every domain of HRQL. Among measured impairments, average arm symptom was found to be most correlated with U/E function (r = 0.590, P < 0.05).
Conclusion
The ICF model consisting of clinical measures for patients with breast-cancer-related lymphedema can predict their HRQL. Activity and participation were the most important component. Arm symptoms rather than arm volume significantly correlated with U/E function. This might suggest that reducing arm symptoms is relatively more important while treating patients with breast-cancer-related lymphedema.
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Notes
SPSS version 11.0 (SPSS, Chicago, IL, USA).
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Acknowledgments
The authors thank the participants and the National Science Council of the Republic of China for financial support under grant nos. NSC93-2314-B-002-118 and NSC94-2314-B-002-074, which made this study possible.
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Tsauo, JY., Hung, HC., Tsai, HJ. et al. Can ICF model for patients with breast-cancer-related lymphedema predict quality of life?. Support Care Cancer 19, 599–604 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-010-0857-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-010-0857-2