Frequency of fibromyalgia syndrome in breast cancer patients.

BACKGROUND: We aimed to determine the frequency of fibromyalgia syndrome (FM) in operated breast cancer patients and to research the relationship between FM and the severity of fatigue and quality of life in these breast cancer patients. METHODS: The demographic data of 101 operated breast cancer patients were recorded. The patients who had pain were then classified as having regional pain (RP), widespread pain without FM (WP), and widespread pain with FM (WFM). The FM diagnosis was based on the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria. The severity of fatigue was evaluated with the Brief Fatigue Inventory, the disease impact was evaluated with the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ), and the quality of life was evaluated with the European Organization for Research on Treatment of Cancer questionnaire Quality of Life-C30 (EORTC-QoL-C30). RESULTS: There was no pain in 38 (37.6%) patients, whereas there was pain in 63 (62.4%) patients (N = 42, 41.6% had RP, N = 21, 20.8% had WP). Ten (9.9%) of the entire patient cohort were diagnosed as having FM according to the ACR criteria. There were no differences among the 3 groups in respect to demographic characteristics when patients were classified as RP (N = 42), WP (N = 11), and WFM (N = 10) groups. While there were negative correlations between the FIQ and EORTC-QoL-C30-function score (r = -0.727) and EORTC-QoL-C30-global score (r = -0.488), there was a positive correlation between the FIQ and EORTC-QoL-C30-symptom score (r = 0.726). CONCLUSION: We note that the frequency of FM in the operated breast cancer patients in this study was higher than that reported in normal populations in the literature. Also, we found that the presence of FM had negative effects on the quality of life of the breast cancer patients. Accordingly, in the evaluation of widespread pain and complaints of fatigue in long-surviving breast cancer patients, after metastatic disease is excluded, the probability of FM should be kept in mind, so that appropriate treatment can be initiated to improve their functional status and quality of life.

Impact of body image on quality of life and mood in mastectomized patients and amputees in Turkey.

BACKGROUND: The aim was to investigate the impact of loss of the breast on body image, as well as the relationship of the body image with quality of life and severity of the depression, comparing mastectomized patients with those with an apparent limb loss (extremity amputation). METHODS: Demographic data, and the side of the tissue/limb loss for mastectomy and transtibial amputation patients were recorded. Postoperative shoulder range of motion limitations of the operated-side in mastectomized patients, and postoperative knee flexion contracture in patients with amputation were evaluated. All patients were asked to complete Body Image Scale, Beck Depression Inventory, and Short Form-36. RESULTS: All of the 40 patients in the mastectomized group were female. In the amputation group, 4 (10.8%) patients were female and 33 (89.2%) were male. Body-image scores in mastectomized and amputation groups were 98.7 ± 26.5, and 77.2 ± 19.7, respectively (p<0.05). Physical- function scores of quality-of-life were significantly lower in the amputation group. For both groups, a significant positive relationship was evident between body-image and depression (r=0.327 and r=0.574, respectively). There were also significant negative relationships between body-image and physical role limitations (r=-0.395) and mental health (r=-0.335) in the mastectomized group, and between body-image, and emotional role limitations in the amputation group (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Although mastectomy does not result in loss of physical function, distortion of body image perception is worse than that caused by extremity amputation, and distortion of the body image affects the quality of life and mood negatively in mastectomized patients.