School of Nursing

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Browsing School of Nursing by Subject "Cancer treatment"

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    Quality of Life among Breast Cancer Patients at Kenyatta National Hospital, Kenya
    (Open Journal Systems, 2024) Kung’u, M; Barasa, R; Mitheu, Kilemi Henry; Karuga, J
    Background: Breast cancer is the most prevalent type of cancer affecting women worldwide. In 2018, it was estimated that over 2 million cases occurred globally and approximately 627,000 deaths were reported which account for 15% of total cancer deaths among women. In Kenya, breast cancer accounts for 23.3% of all cases of female cancers. Breast cancer diagnosis and treatment has been noted to have both physical and emotional impact on the patients. Adjustment of the patients to the disease may results to them having poor quality of life. The aim of this study was to determine the quality of life of breast cancer patients at Kenyatta National Hospital, Nairobi, Kenya. Methodology: Cross-sectional descriptive hospital-based study design was used. The data was collected using the WHO-BREF QOL questionnaires. The sample frame targeted 161 breast cancer patients of 18 years and above. SPSS software version 25 was used to analyse the data. Mean, mode, median, standard deviation and proportions were used to describe socio demographic, clinical and psychological factors. Chi square test was used to measure association between clinical, psychological and socio-demographic factors and quality of life of breast cancer patients. Results: A total of 154 patients were studied (127 female and 27 male). The mean score of the overall quality of life was 65.5 with a standard deviation of 19.9. Being of a younger age, marriage, high average household income and high level of education were associated with a good quality of life. Later stages of breast cancer and patients on chemotherapy were found to have a poor quality of life. Patients who had feelings of anxiety, depression and blue mood were also found to have a poor quality of life. Conclusion: The overall QOL of the breast cancer patients was good. This may be contributed by early diagnosis of the patients as well as good social support. However, patients had poor scores in the psychological domain; hence the need for psychological assessments among the patients.