THE IMPACT OF BREAST CANCER ON QUALITY OF LIFE AMONG A SAMPLE OF FEMALE IRAQI PATIENTS

Objectives: Breast Cancer (BC) is the most common cause of cancer-related death among females which affects quality of life. This study aimed at describing the impact of Breast Cancer (BC) on quality of life among a sample of Iraqi patients. Methods: A sample of 263 Breast cancer patients attending Al-Amal National hospital for Cancer management was invited to participate in this study. The impact of BC on quality of life was measured using the newly developed Impact of breast cancer questionnaire. It is composed of 20 domains that tap different aspect of life might be affected by BC. Results: More than half of the interviewed female patients were in their 50s and attained secondary education. About 60.8 % were married and more than half had more than one child. Around 56 % were skilled workers and quarter of respondents came from rural areas. The hhighest negative impact was for Breast Cancer impact on happiness, followed by "ability to focus on daily tasks". Sleep was the third negatively affected domain of life and "carrying out house chores" was the fourth and last domain where more than half of participants showed a negative impact. There was a high percentage of observed agreement between the calculated breast cancer impact and the perceived overall negative impact of breast cancer assessed by direct questioning. This high observed agreement was significantly beyond chance. Conclusions: Breast Cancer negatively impacted Quality of life. A physician in charge of patients' management should pay attention to this when arranging a treatment plan.