Asian Oncol Nurs. 2013 Dec;13(4):222-230. Korean.
Published online Dec 31, 2013.
© 2013 Korean Oncology Nursing Society
Original Article

Chemotherapy-induced Peripheral Neuropathy and Quality of Life in Breast Cancer Patients

Hye Young Kim,1 Jeong Hee Kang,1 Chi Eun Song,2 and Hyun Jo Youn3
    • 1College of Nursing, Chonbuk National University, Jeonju, Korea.
    • 2Department of Hematology, Chonnam National University Hwasun Hospital, Hwasun, Korea.
    • 3Department of Surgery, Chonbuk National University Medical School, Jeonju, Korea.
Received November 10, 2013; Accepted December 18, 2013.

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Purpose

This study was performed to identify the levels of paclitaxel-containing chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) in relation to quality of life (QOL) in patients with breast cancer.

Methods

A total of 82 breast cancer patients with CIPN participated in this study. Data were collected through self-reported questionnaires containing three instruments by the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC), such as QLQ-C30 for health-related QOL, QLQ-BR23 for breast cancer-related QOL, and QLQ-CIPN20 for CIPN. Scores from all three instruments were transformed into 0 to 100 scale. Data were analyzed using SPSS/WIN20 with descriptive statistics and Pearson's correlations.

Results

The mean score for each subscale of health-related QOL was 46.14 for global health status, 62.43 for functional scale, and 31.29 for symptom scale. The mean score for each subscale of breast cancer-related QOL was 56.55 for the functional scale and 42.06 for the symptom scale. Also, the CIPN's mean score on the sensory scale was 30.42, 24.03 on the motor scale, and 22.70 on the autonomic scale. There were significant moderate correlations between QOLs and CIPN (r ranged from -.37 to .65).

Conclusion

There is a need to develop interventions for breast cancer patients to enhance their quality of life and to alleviate chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy.

Keywords
Breast Neoplasms; Peripheral Neuropathies; Quality of Life

Tables

Table 1
Participants' Characteristics (N=82)

Table 2
Participants' Level of CIPN and QOL (N=82)

Table 3
Participants who Reported "Quite a Bit" or "Very Much" on CIPN Items (N=82)

Table 4
Mean Differences of CIPN according to Participants' Characteristics (N=82)

Table 5
Correlations between CIPN and QOL (N=82)

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