Health-related QoL among Breast Cancer Patients and Influencing Factors in China

Breast cancer is by far the most frequent cancer among women with an estimated 1.38 million new cancer cases diagnosed in 2008 (23% of all cancers), and ranks second overall (10.9% of all cancers). It is now the most common cancer both in developed and developing regions with around 690 000 new cases estimated in each region (population ratio 1:4) (IARC, 2008). It is estimated most of the breast cancer cases occur among women aged before 50 years (ACS, 2003). With the increasing numbers of breast cancer patients, the number of breast cancer younger survivors is growing. Previous studies conducted in Western counties indicated that better psychological morbidity and poorer quality of life (QOL) after breast cancer than older women (Avis et al., 2005; Al-Naggar et al., 2011; Park et al., 2011). The main reasons might be the worrying about body image and sexuality, psychological stress, anxiety, fear of recurrence, sleep dysfunction, fear of loss of fertility, pain, fatigue, and impaired physical functioning (Avis et al., 2005; Al-Naggar et al., 2011; Park et al., 2011; Park et al., 2011). A number of factors may be associated with the HRQoL of breast cancer patients after surgery. Age and types of treatment have been known to be significant high risk factors for poor quality of life (Wenzel et al., 1999; Kwan et al., 2010; Park et al., 2011). Previous studies suggested that younger women had greater psychological