QUALITY OF LIFE AND PERIPHERAL LYMPHEDEMA

Abstract

Evaluation of the health-related quality of life (QOL) is becoming commonplace, seeking toprovide information about the everyday well being of a patient. This work examined the QOL of23 consecutive patients with lymphedema of the upper or lower extremities. Five were men and theother eighteen were women. Their ages ranged from 19 to 74 years (mean 48.3). After clinicalexamination, and with informed consent of each patient, they were assessed by a psychologist andsubmitted to a QOL test (SF-36). For controls, twenty-three women and five men with age rangeof 28 to 66 years (mean 47) were similarly evaluated. The results showed the lymphedema grouphad a statistically significantly reduced QOL in both physical and mental health as well as socialinteraction