Study: Tough for young breast cancer patients with children during the pandemic

Researchers from, among others, the Cancer Registry, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health and Oslo University Hospital have looked at what effect having children during the covid-19 pandemic may have had on quality of life, depending on whether you had cancer or not.

They have used data from the Norwegian Cancer Registry’s ongoing population survey on health and quality of life. 4279 women with breast cancer and 2911 without breast cancer participated in the period between 2020 and 2022, which compares the periods before and following covid.

993 (23.2 per cent) of the women with breast cancer had children under the age of 18 living at home. In the control group, there were 568 (19.5 per cent) with children.

– For women with breast cancer, living with children under the age of 18 was negative for the quality of life, while for women without cancer, living with small children was positive for the quality of life, says Karianne Svendsen, postdoctoral fellow at the Cancer Register, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, and first author of the study that was published earlier this year to NTB.

Remarkably tough

The purpose was to compare health-related quality of life in women with and without breast cancer through different periods characterized by social restrictions, high infection pressure and the period following the covid pandemic. The researchers looked at three phases: the closed period, the opening phase with high infection pressure and the period following the pandemic, when mandatory testing ended.

The responses from the survey show that breast cancer patients generally had a consistently much lower quality of life than other women, and that this difference in quality of life persisted through all three phases. The women aged between 18 and 49 with breast cancer stated that they functioned particularly poorly socially and struggled to fulfill their roles in everyday life.

– We thought perhaps we would see differences throughout the periods, such as, for example, that the healthy people’s quality of life would decrease and approach the level of breast cancer patients, but that was not the case. Both those with breast cancer and those without managed surprisingly well throughout the periods, and there were small differences between the phases, says Svendsen.

While young mothers reported the worst quality of life among those diagnosed with cancer, it was young single women who had the worst quality of life of the women in the control group.

Differences between singles

The researchers describe it as a “disturbing finding” that single, healthy women had such a much poorer quality of life. It approached the level of the single breast cancer patients.

– It illustrates the possible negative impact, among other things, social isolation can have on the quality of life of those who do not have a partner, says Svendsen.

Among those with breast cancer, on the other hand, it was those who had children who struggled the most in the face of everyday challenges.

– Having a cancer diagnosis leads to a reduced quality of life due to, among other things, fatigue, late effects and worries. In addition, feeling responsibility and guilt towards a child or partner can make it even harder to live with a serious illness, says Svendsen.

The closure may also have delayed diagnosis and led to delayed treatment and follow-up, which may have added to the burden.

Follow-up

The researchers believe that “the findings of this study highlight the need for preventive measures aimed at specific patient groups and other groups in the event of a future pandemic”.

In general, they also believe that follow-up of women with breast cancer should be adapted to the high-risk group. Those who are diagnosed at a young age, with responsibility for children while receiving tough cancer treatment.