Coping Styles and Quality of Life in Breast Cancer Patients Undergoing Radiotherapy

This study examined relationships between coping styles and quality of life (QoL) in oncology patients undergoing radiotherapy compared with healthy controls. Coping styles and QoL were assessed to elucidate connections and inform psychosocial care.

57 females participated, including 28 breast cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy and 29 healthy controls matched on demographics. Participants completed the COPE Inventory, which measures active, emotion-focused, and avoidant coping levels, and the SF-36, which assesses mental, physical, and overall QoL. Between-group differences were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U test. Correlations between coping styles and QoL were examined with Spearman's r.

Breast cancer patients showed a significantly lower QoL on all scales versus controls. In patients, active coping weakly correlated with physical QoL, while avoidance moderately to strongly correlated with poorer mental, physical, and overall QoL. In controls, active coping strongly correlated with mental and overall QoL, and avoidance moderately negatively correlated across domains.

Maladaptive avoidance coping was strongly related to poorer QoL in both groups, especially patients. Active coping showed limited benefits for patients' QoL, in contrast with the controls. Those with low scores require effective interventions during radiotherapy, which are crucial for coping with treatment adverse effects.