Objectives: We sought to identify trajectories of patient-reported outcomes, specifically physical well-being of the chest (PWBC), in patients who underwent postmastectomy breast reconstruction, and further assessed its significant predictors, and its relationship with health-related quality of life (HRQOL).
Methods: We used data collected as part of the Mastectomy Reconstruction Outcomes Consortium study within a 2-year follow-up in 2012-2017, with 1422, 1218,1199, and 1417 repeated measures at assessment timepoints of 0,3,12, and 24 months, respectively. We performed latent class growth analysis (LCGA) in the implant group (IMPG) and autologous group (AUTOG) to identify longitudinal change trajectories, and then assessed its significant predictors, and its relationship with HRQOL by conducting multinomial logistic regression.
Results: Of the included 1424 patients, 843 were in IMPG, and 581 were in AUTOG. Both groups experienced reduced PWBC at follow-up. LCGA identified four distinct PWBC trajectories (χ2 = 1019.91, p<0.001): low vs medium high vs medium low vs high baseline PWBC that was restored vs. not-restored after 2 years. In 76.63%(n = 646) of patients in IMPG and 62.99% (n = 366) in AUTOG, PWBC was restored after two years. Patients in IMPG exhibited worse PWBC at 3 months post-surgery than that in AUTOG. Patients with low baseline PWBC that did not improve at 2-year follow up (n = 28, 4.82% for AUTOG) were characterized by radiation following reconstruction and non-white ethnicity. In IMPG, patients with medium low-restored trajectory were more likely to experience improved breast satisfaction, while patients developing high-restored trajectories were less likely to have worsened psychosocial well-being.
Conclusion: Although more women in IMPG experienced restored PWBC after 2 years, those in AUTOG exhibited a more favorable postoperative trajectory of change in PWBC. This finding can inform clinical treatment decisions, help manage patient expectations for recovery, and develop rehabilitation interventions contributing to enhancing the postoperative quality of life for breast cancer patients.
Copyright: © 2023 Xu et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.