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The partial or total mastectomy can interfere with quality of life after treatment of breast cancer

The aim of the current work was to evaluate the influence of total mastectomy on the quality of life. Thirtytwo patients submitted to mastectomy associated with axillary lymph node dissection were evaluated. The patients were allocated to two groups: 17 patients underwent quadrantectomy and 15 underwent total mastectomy. All participants signed written consent forms after being informed about the nature of the work. Subsequently, they were requested to complete the SF 36 questionnaire that evaluates physical capacity, physical aspect, general health state, pain, vitality, social aspect, emotional aspect and mental health. Quality of life was evaluated and the influence of mastectomy on the two groups was compared. For statistical evaluation the non‐paired t test was utilized for items with normal distributions on the Gauss curve and the Mann‐Whitney test for items with non‐normal distributions. An alpha error of 5% was considered acceptable (p‐value < 0.05). Patients’ ages varied between 29 and 73 years with a mean 58.3 years. The quality of life was affected in respect to vitality in the group of patients submitted to total mastectomy, as identified using the Mann‐Whitney test (p‐value = 0.04). The partial or total mastectomy can interfere with quality of life after treatment of breast cancer