Social support and quality of life in Greek women with breast cancer during chemotherapy and two years later

Abstract

background Social support in women with breast cancer is associated with quality of life (QoL) and it appears to be vital for treating breast cancer and adaptation to disease. Social support seems to decrease quantitatively and over time while significant improvement in the patients’ long-term emotional and physical function is observed. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the differences in levels of social support and QoL in two independent groups of patients: women with breast cancer (i) during chemotherapy and (ii) two years after the chemotherapy.