Quality of life of spouses of breast cancer patients

Abstract

Spouses play an important role, both physically and emotionally when it comes to the life events of a couple. The impact of a cancer diagnosis in particular, would affect the lives of both the patient and their spouse in various aspects. The study uses a quantitative method to understand the impact of the illness on male spouses of patients with breast cancer. The tools used for the study include the Caregiver Oncology Quality of Life tool and a semi-structured questionnaire. The data obtained from the sample (n=30) is analyzed using Descriptive statistics to study overall Quality of Life of spouses. Paired ‘t’ test is used to compare Quality of life of spouses according to Place of residence (Rural and Urban), Age (Above 50 years and Below 50 years) and Number of years of marriage (Above 25 years and Below 25 years). The study found that spouses of breast cancer patients have a good quality of life.