TY - JOUR
T1 - Young Adult German Breast Cancer Patients Participating in a Three-Week Inpatient Mother–Child Rehab Program Have High Needs for Supportive Care
AU - Hammersen, Friederike
AU - Fischer, Dorothea
AU - Pursche, Telja
AU - Strobel, Angelika M.
AU - Katalinic, Alexander
AU - Labohm, Louisa
AU - Waldmann, Annika
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 by the authors.
PY - 2023/3
Y1 - 2023/3
N2 - A known cut-off problem hampers the interpretation of quality of life (QOL) scores. The purpose of this study was to apply a novel approach for the EORTC QLQ-C30 instrument to identify the proportion of breast cancer (BC) patients in need of supportive care. Changes in QOL during the COVID-19 pandemic were evaluated, as well as changes over time (after treatment termination and up to 4 years later). Data were obtained from a cohort study on young adult BC patients with minor children participating in a mother–child rehab program. Cross-sectional QOL data were collected from 2015 to 2021 (baseline). Follow-up data were available for up to 4 years after diagnosis for a subgroup. The baseline cohort included 853 women (mean age 35 years). More than 50% had a need for supportive care. In the subgroup with follow-up, this proportion remained at a high level up to several years after diagnosis. During the COVID-19 pandemic, changes regarding the proportion with this need were not as high as expected—with the exception of changes on the QLQ-C30 scale ‘role functioning’ (+15%). Even several years after diagnosis, every second BC patient with minor children had a need for supportive care, which is much higher than previously found. Healthcare staff should be aware of this potential need and should address this issue.
AB - A known cut-off problem hampers the interpretation of quality of life (QOL) scores. The purpose of this study was to apply a novel approach for the EORTC QLQ-C30 instrument to identify the proportion of breast cancer (BC) patients in need of supportive care. Changes in QOL during the COVID-19 pandemic were evaluated, as well as changes over time (after treatment termination and up to 4 years later). Data were obtained from a cohort study on young adult BC patients with minor children participating in a mother–child rehab program. Cross-sectional QOL data were collected from 2015 to 2021 (baseline). Follow-up data were available for up to 4 years after diagnosis for a subgroup. The baseline cohort included 853 women (mean age 35 years). More than 50% had a need for supportive care. In the subgroup with follow-up, this proportion remained at a high level up to several years after diagnosis. During the COVID-19 pandemic, changes regarding the proportion with this need were not as high as expected—with the exception of changes on the QLQ-C30 scale ‘role functioning’ (+15%). Even several years after diagnosis, every second BC patient with minor children had a need for supportive care, which is much higher than previously found. Healthcare staff should be aware of this potential need and should address this issue.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85151341623&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/6f69548d-27f9-3756-a563-a995fdf37f3e/
U2 - 10.3390/cancers15061770
DO - 10.3390/cancers15061770
M3 - Journal articles
AN - SCOPUS:85151341623
VL - 15
SP - 1770
JO - Cancers
JF - Cancers
SN - 2072-6694
IS - 6
M1 - 1770
ER -