Young Adult German Breast Cancer Patients Participating in a Three-Week Inpatient Mother-Child Rehab Program Have High Needs for Supportive Care

Simple Summary Breast cancer may lead to a reduced quality of life. Certain aspects such as sleep disorders and pain may be a problem not only in the short but also in the long term. Only recently have thresholds for quality of life scores indicating a need for supportive care been published. We asked 853 women with young children and with a breast cancer diagnosis before the age of 40 years about their quality of life, using a questionnaire called EORTC QLQ-C30. More than half of the women with breast cancer reported a reduced quality of life requiring supportive care. This was true 1 year and several years after diagnosis. Physicians, nurses, and other persons working in healthcare should (1) be aware of this and (2) talk to breast cancer survivors about supportive care options. A known cut-off problem hampers the interpretation of quality of life (QOL) scores. The purpose of this study was to apply a novel approach for the EORTC QLQ-C30 instrument to identify the proportion of breast cancer (BC) patients in need of supportive care. Changes in QOL during the COVID-19 pandemic were evaluated, as well as changes over time (after treatment termination and up to 4 years later). Data were obtained from a cohort study on young adult BC patients with minor children participating in a mother-child rehab program. Cross-sectional QOL data were collected from 2015 to 2021 (baseline). Follow-up data were available for up to 4 years after diagnosis for a subgroup. The baseline cohort included 853 women (mean age 35 years). More than 50% had a need for supportive care. In the subgroup with follow-up, this proportion remained at a high level up to several years after diagnosis. During the COVID-19 pandemic, changes regarding the proportion with this need were not as high as expected-with the exception of changes on the QLQ-C30 scale 'role functioning' (+15%). Even several years after diagnosis, every second BC patient with minor children had a need for supportive care, which is much higher than previously found. Healthcare staff should be aware of this potential need and should address this issue.

Automated summary

Breast cancer may lead to a reduced quality of life, including sleep disorders and pain, both in the short and long term. More than half of breast cancer patients reported a reduced quality of life requiring supportive care. It is important for healthcare professionals to be aware of this and discuss supportive care options with survivors.