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Musculoskeletal pain and health-related quality of life among breast cancer patients treated with aromatase inhibitors

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Abstract

Objective

This study aims to examine the associations between musculoskeletal pain and health-related quality of life (HR-QOL) among breast cancer patients on aromatase inhibitors (AIs) and women without a history of breast cancer.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted among 68 breast cancer patients on AIs for an average of 3.5 years and 137 postmenopausal women without a history of cancer. Musculoskeletal pain was assessed using a 10-cm visual analog scale; HR-QOL was examined using the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form (SF-36) health survey. Linear regression was used to estimate the associations between pain and HR-QOL in both groups.

Results

Approximately 64 % of the breast cancer patients and women in the comparison group reported musculoskeletal pain. Among women with breast cancer, those with pain had significantly lower HR-QOL scores in the physical (52.2 vs. 42.6; p < 0.001) and mental (52.7 vs. 45.5; p = 0.01) component summary scores compared with those without pain. In the comparison group, pain was associated with significantly lower scores in the physical (55.4 vs. 46.0; p < 0.001), but not the mental, component summary score (52.1 vs. 52.4; p = 0.82). The significant associations between pain and HR-QOL persisted after confounder adjustment in both groups. Among women with similar severity of pain, breast cancer patients reported significantly lower HR-QOL in the mental summary component compared with the women in the comparison group.

Conclusions

Among breast cancer patients, musculoskeletal pain adversely affects both mental and physical components of HR-QOL. Preventing or treating AI-associated musculoskeletal pain may improve overall HR-QOL among breast cancer patients treated with AIs.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Prevention and Research Center, The Weinberg Center for Women’s Health and Medicine, Mercy Medical Center, 227 St. Paul Place, 6th Floor, Baltimore, MD, 21202, USA

    Temitope Olufade, Lisa Gallicchio, Ryan MacDonald & Kathy J. Helzlsouer

  2. Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA

    Temitope Olufade, Lisa Gallicchio & Kathy J. Helzlsouer

Authors
  1. Temitope Olufade
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  2. Lisa Gallicchio
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  4. Kathy J. Helzlsouer
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Correspondence to Kathy J. Helzlsouer.

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Olufade, T., Gallicchio, L., MacDonald, R. et al. Musculoskeletal pain and health-related quality of life among breast cancer patients treated with aromatase inhibitors. Support Care Cancer 23, 447–455 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-014-2364-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-014-2364-3

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