Background and objective

Unlike oncological results there are no standard methods to evaluate aesthetic results. Many studies have evaluated cosmetic results and quality of life after breast cancer surgery with very inconsistent results perhaps due to the use of unconfirmed subjective evaluations, the small size of the population study, the retrospective design of the studies and differences in measures of quality of life.

Our objective is to determine the quality of life status with Breast-Q® instrument (previously authorized by 2018 Mapi Research Trust© and also validated for its application in Spanish), in women with post-mastectomy breast reconstruction in 2013-2018.

Methods

Cohort study including patients diagnosed with breast cancer who underwent breast reconstruction. Quality of life was measured by the Breast-Q® instrument in its Spanish version. The quantitative variables are shown as averages and standard deviation. Qualitative data such as frequencies and percentages. The analysis of the before and after breast reconstruction with the Wilcoxon test. A value p<0.05 was taken as significant. The statistical package SPSS version 22 was used to analyze the data.

Results

Satisfaction regarding their nipples, their thorax, the referred information, and in general is above 75 points out of 100. Interestingly, psychological well-being is also above 75 on average. When comparing the before and after satisfaction with their breasts and sexual well-being, a statistically significant increase was found.

Conclusions

The evaluation using the Breast-Q® instrument among our study group showed that breast reconstruction improves the quality of life of patients undergoing this procedure.

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