Association between quality of life and mortality risk in patients with breast cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Patients with breast cancer present with various problems that have an adverse effect on the quality of life (QOL). However, the association between the QOL and mortality among patients with breast cancer remains controversial. Therefore, this systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to determine whether QOL impacts prognosis in patients with breast cancer.

The databases of CINAHL, Scopus, and PubMed databases were searched to retrieve observational studies that assessed the QOL and mortality risk in patients with breast cancer published before December 2022.

Among the 119,061 articles retrieved, six observational studies were included in the meta-analysis. Physical QOL (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.04, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.01–1.07, p = 0.003), emotional QOL (HR: 1.01, 95% CI: 1.00–1.03, p = 0.05), and role QOL (HR: 1.01, 95% CI: 1.00–1.01, p = 0.007) showed significant associations with mortality risk. In contrast, global QOL, cognitive QOL, and social QOL showed no associations with mortality risk. Subgroup analysis performed according to treatment time points revealed that the post-treatment physical QOL was associated with mortality risk.

Physical QOL, emotional QOL, and role QOL are associated with mortality risk in patients with breast cancer. Furthermore, post-treatment physical QOL showed a more significant association with prolonged survival than pre-treatment physical QOL.