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Diet quality is directly associated with quality of life in breast cancer survivors

  • Epidemiology
  • Published:
Breast Cancer Research and Treatment Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Summary

Purpose

To determine whether there is a direct relationship between diet quality and quality of life in breast cancer survivors.

Methods

Subjects (n = 714) were members of the Health, Eating, Activity, and Lifestyle study, a study of breast cancer prognosis conducted in three areas of the western United States. Approximately 2 years after entry to this study, diet data were collecting using food frequency questionnaires. These data were used to classify diet quality using the Diet Quality Index. Approximately 10 months later, data on quality of life were gathered using the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item short form health survey.

Results

After controlling for age, education, race/ethnicity, body mass index, stage of disease, and time from diagnosis to quality of life measurement, women with excellent diet quality had significantly better scores than women with poor diet quality for overall mental health functioning and for 3 of 4 mental health subscale scores and 2 of 4 physical health subscale scores.

Conclusion

Post-diagnosis diet quality is directly associated with subsequent mental and physical functioning in breast cancer survivors. This association is stronger for mental functioning than for physical functioning. The association remains strong after control for potential confounding variables.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by National Institutes of Health contract N01-CN-75036–20.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Albuquerque, NM , USA

    Sharon J Wayne & Richard N Baumgartner

  2. Cancer Research and Treatment Center, Department of Internal Medicine University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Albuquerque, NM, , USA

    Kathy Baumgartner

  3. Department of Preventive Medicine and USC/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Leslie Bernstein

  4. Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, USA

    Deborah J Bowen

  5. Applied Research Program, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA

    Rachel Ballard-Barbash

Authors
  1. Sharon J Wayne
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  2. Kathy Baumgartner
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  3. Richard N Baumgartner
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  4. Leslie Bernstein
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  5. Deborah J Bowen
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  6. Rachel Ballard-Barbash
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Correspondence to Sharon J Wayne.

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Wayne, S., Baumgartner, K., Baumgartner, R. et al. Diet quality is directly associated with quality of life in breast cancer survivors. Breast Cancer Res Treat 96, 227–232 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-005-9018-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-005-9018-6

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