Qualidade de vida, estado emocional e hábitos alimentares em mulheres com câncer de mama : uma análise comparativa e longitudinal.

Abstract

Introduction: Breast cancer is the most prevalent neoplasm among women worldwide, with profound physical, emotional, and social impacts. Despite therapeutic advances, diagnosis and treatment, especially chemotherapy, are associated with challenges such as reduced quality of life, changes in emotional health, and changes in eating habits. General Objective: To investigate the impacts of breast cancer diagnosis and chemotherapy treatment on the quality of life, emotional health, and eating habits of adult and elderly women, through comparative and longitudinal analyses. In Manuscript I, Thirty adult patients (47.23 ± 7.18 years) and 18 elderly patients (69.11 ± 7.10 years) were evaluated. The scores of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 30 (EORTC QLQ C30) questionnaire showed no significant difference in the global health/quality of life scores (p = 0.289). However, between the age groups, there was significantly worse physical performance (p = 0.017) in adults and worse cognitive performance in elderly women (p = 0.046). There were no significant differences between the classifications of anxiety (p = 0.823), stress (p = 0.729) and depression (p = 0.782). Regarding eating habits, it was found that the consumption of fruits and/or oilseeds (p=0.048) was more frequent among elderly women (66.7%), while adult women rarely or never ate these foods (50.0%). Manuscript 2: 40 patients diagnosed with breast cancer were evaluated, evaluated at the time of diagnosis and after the fourth chemotherapy cycle, the assessments included the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 30 (EORTC QLQ C30) questionnaires for quality of life, the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21) to assess emotional state and the food frequency questionnaire to investigate eating habits, where a significant decrease in Global Health/Quality of Life scores was observed (p<0.001), as well as in physical (p<0.001), functional (p=0.002) and social (p=0.012) functions. There was a significant increase in fatigue (p<0.001), nausea/vomiting (p<0.001), pain (p=0.032), dyspnea (p=0.002) and loss of appetite (p<0.001), in addition to a reduction in the financial difficulties score (p=0.032). Regarding emotional aspects, only anxiety symptoms increased significantly (p=0.034), but with no difference between the anxiety symptom ratings (p=0.399). The consumption of carbohydrates (p<0.001), legumes (p=0.011) and animal protein (p<0.001) always or almost always increased significantly. Final considerations: The findings of this study highlight that there were no differences in the quality of life or emotional state scores. However, adult patients had worse physical function than elderly patients, but elderly patients had worse cognitive function and a higher frequency of fruit and/or oilseed consumption compared to adult patients. On the other hand, after the fourth cycle of chemotherapy, there was a significant reduction in the quality of life of patients, intensifying physical and emotional symptoms, as well as leading to increased anxiety and changes in eating habits. These results highlight the need for multidisciplinary support strategies that minimize the negative effects of chemotherapy and promote improvements in the quality of life of these patients.