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Functional status, depression, and quality of life in female patients with postmastectomy lymphedema

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Summary

Background

This study aimed to evaluate QOL in female patients who had developed lymphedema (LE) following unilateral breast cancer surgery and investigate its relationship to shoulder pain, sleep and depression.

Methods

A total of 69 female patients who had undergone unilateral mastectomy because of breast cancer and had been diagnosed with LE and 69 healthy controls were included in the study. While the QOL of participants was evaluated by the Short Form-36 (SF-36), depression levels were determined by the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and quality of sleep was evaluated by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Shoulder pain on the operated side in the patient group was appraised by the visual analogue scale (VAS).

Results

This study revealed that LE patients had increased levels of depression, sleep disorders, and arm pain, while a decrease was found in the level of upper extremity functions and QOL. Therefore QOL, depression, and sleep disorders should be investigated in detail alongside upper extremity problems in the diagnosis and follow-up of patients with postmastectomy LE.

Conclusion

Postmastectomy LE causes chronic pain and depression and impairs patients’ functionality and QOL.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Rheumatology, Beyhekim Training and Research Hospital, Konya, Turkey

    Büşra Varman MD

  2. Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Beyhekim Training and Research Hospital, Konya, Turkey

    Halim Yılmaz MD

  3. Department of General Surgery, University of Health Sciences, Konya City Hospital, Konya, Turkey

    Mehmet Ali Eryılmaz MD

  4. Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Karaman Training and Research Hospital, Karaman, Turkey

    Yurdagül Bahran Muştu MD

  5. Department of General Surgery, Necmettin Erbakan University Meram School of Medicine, Konya, Turkey

    Alper Varman MD

Authors
  1. Büşra Varman MD
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  2. Halim Yılmaz MD
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  3. Mehmet Ali Eryılmaz MD
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  4. Yurdagül Bahran Muştu MD
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  5. Alper Varman MD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alper Varman MD.

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Conflict of interest

B. Varman, H. Yılmaz, M.A. Eryılmaz, Y.B. Muştu, and A. Varman declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

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Varman, B., Yılmaz, H., Eryılmaz, M.A. et al. Functional status, depression, and quality of life in female patients with postmastectomy lymphedema. Eur Surg 56, 33–38 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10353-023-00821-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10353-023-00821-y

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