[Methods of Assesing Quality of Life in Women with Breast Cancer -  Overview and Basic Characteristics]

For the assessment of health -related quality of life (HRQOL) in women with diagnosis of breast carcinoma, patient-eported outcome measures are reported that allow subjective assessment of quality of life related to health status and satisfaction with treatment and medical care. However, their research use is still limited by the low availability of reliable and valid tools tested on samples of specific populations with malignant disease.

The aim of the article is to provide review and short description of available instruments related to HRQOL of patients with a history of treatment for breast cancer with evidence of validation in the breast cancer population.

In this review 15 validated patientreported outcome measures are presented specifically relating to HRQOL in women with breast carcinoma.

Most of the presented measures are suitable in research and clinical trials but not for individual use in clinical practice. Most of the specific measures for assessing HRQOL in patients with breast cancer are not yet available in Czech language and Czech cultural environment adapted versions. Research versions of some of these measures are available in Czech, but these methods have not yet been validated in the Czech Republic. Lack of available tools for use in our conditions means significant limiting factor for research as well as for clinical practice in the Czech Republic. On the other hand, it also offers great scope for validation studies.