2019 Volume 4 Issue 2 Pages 45-52
Introduction: It is considered important that the health-related outcome and quality of life are assessed from the patient's point of view. Since BREAST-Q was developed in 2009, it has been rapidly and widely employed by clinicians and researchers to acquire information regarding the health-related quality of life and patient satisfaction related to breast surgery. However, it has not been put into use in clinical settings in Japan. Methods and Results: In this study, we assessed the patient-reported outcome using the questionnaire survey BREAST-Q. Women with successful breast reconstruction were significantly more satisfied with the appearance of their chest/breasts, and were more comfortable psychosocially and sexually than women with mastectomy alone. Conclusions: Successful breast reconstruction following mastectomy can greatly improve different aspects of the patient's satisfaction, QOL and sexual health as compared with not undergoing reconstructive surgery.
