The role of psychological distress in the relationship between illness perception and quality of life in patients with breast cancer

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the associations between the illness perception dimensions and quality of life, assessing the modulatory role of psychological distress in patients with breast cancer, identifying which of these dimensions explained further variability in the different aspects of the quality of life. Methods: Seventy-five patients were evaluated with the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire and the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Quality of Life Questionnaire (QLQ-30). We calculated bivariate and partial correlations to evaluate the associations between the illness perception dimensions and different aspects of quality of life, controlling for a distress measure. Subsequently, we performed linear regression analysis to evaluate the illness perception dimensions that could explain the variability in the quality of life scores. Results: Although significant associations between subscales of perception of illness and quality of life were found, most of them lost their significance when controlled by distress. In the regression models, variables that best predicted the variability in the quality of life were psychopathological diagnostic and distress. Conclusions: According with the study results, psychological distress and psychopathological diagnostic were the two variables that explained better the variability in the quality of life. For this reason it is essential to learn more about the role of these variables on the quality of life and morbidity and mortality associated with them.