Congress Abstracts 2006

244

QUALITY OF LIFE OF BREAST CANCER SURVIVORS: COMPARISONS REGARDING THE GENERAL POPULATION, ETHNICITY, AND URBAN VS. SUBURBAN NEIGHBORHOODS. Carol Ferrans, PhD, RN, FAAN, Eileen Hacker, Karen Masino, Lisa Dobogai, and Marcia Mickle, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL.

The majority of women diagnosed with breast cancer will become long-term survivors. To better develop health care services to meet their needs, we need to understand the differences in quality of life (QOL) among various groups of cancer survivors.

The purpose of this study was to compare the QOL of long-term breast cancer survivors with women from the general population, and to examine the effect of ethnicity and location of residence (urban vs. suburban).

The Ferrans (1996) conceptual model of quality of life guided this study.

Data were collected by mailing questionnaires to participants' homes. All cancer survivors (n = 498) had completed treatment at least 12 months before participating in the study. Cancer survivor data were compared with questionnaires completed by women from the general population (n = 267).

Cancer survivors were found to have significantly better QOL than women in the general population. QOL was better for cancer survivors overall, as well as in four life domains: health and functioning, psychological/spiritual, social and economic, and family. In their qualitative responses, cancer survivors reported positive changes in their lives as a result of their experience with cancer, contributing to improved QOL. Examination of the cancer survivor data showed that those who lived in urban neighborhoods had a significantly lower QOL than those who living in suburban areas. This was the case even though the urban group was significantly younger. This was found for both Caucasians and African Americans, demonstrating that living environment and socioeconomic status had a greater effect on QOL than ethnicity. In fact, the Caucasian women living in urban neighborhoods had a lower QOL than the African Americans in similar neighborhoods. Greater depression and social isolation may have contributed to the poorer QOL of the urban Caucasian group. The findings demonstrated that the cancer survivors living in urban neighborhoods had a greater need for supportive services than those in suburban areas. The results of this study can be used to help identify differences in needs for breast cancer survivors, particularly those in urban areas.