The impact of breast cancer-related lymphedema (BCRL) on long-term quality of life is unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of BCRL on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) up to 10 years after breast cancer treatment. This regional population-based study enrolled patients treated for breast cancer with axillary lymph node dissection between January 1st 2007 and December 31th 2017. Follow up and assessments of the included patients were conducted between January 2019 and May 2020. The study outcome was HRQoL, evaluated with the Lymphedema Functioning, Disability and Health Questionnaire, the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand Questionnaire and the Short Form (36) Health Survey Questionnaire. Multivariate linear logistic regression models adjusted for confounders provided mean score differences (MDs) with 95% confidence intervals in each HRQoL scale and item. This study enrolled 244 patients with BCRL and 823 patients without BCRL. Patients with BCRL had significantly poorer HRQoL than patients without BCRL in 16 out of 18 HRQoL subscales, for example, in physical function (MDs 27, 95%CI: 24; 30), mental health (MDs 24, 95%CI: 21; 27) and social role functioning (MDs 20, 95%CI: 17; 23). Age, BMI, BCRL severity, hand and dominant arm affection had only minor impact on HRQoL (MDs < 5), suggesting a high degree of inter-individual variation in coping with lymphedema. This study showed that BCRL is associated with long-term impairments in HRQoL, especially affecting the physical and psychosocial domains. Surprisingly, BCRL diagnosis rather than clinical severity drove the largest impairments in HRQoL.

乳腺癌相关淋巴水肿（BCRL）对长期生活质量的影响尚不清楚。本研究的目的是调查乳腺癌治疗后 10 年内 BCRL 对健康相关生活质量 (HRQoL) 的影响。这项基于人群的区域研究纳入了2007年1月1日至2017年12月31日期间接受腋窝淋巴结清扫术治疗的乳腺癌患者。2019年1月至2020年5月期间对纳入的患者进行了随访和评估。研究结果是HRQoL，评估包括淋巴水肿功能、残疾和健康调查问卷、手臂、肩部和手部残疾调查问卷以及简式 (36) 健康调查问卷。针对混杂因素进行调整的多元线性逻辑回归模型在每个 HRQoL 量表和项目中提供了具有 95% 置信区间的平均得分差异 (MD)。该研究纳入了 244 名 BCRL 患者和 823 名无 BCRL 患者。在 18 个 HRQoL 分量表中的 16 个中，患有 BCRL 的患者的 HRQoL 显着较差于无 BCRL 的患者，例如身体功能（MD 27，95% CI：24；30）、心理健康（MD 24，95% CI：21；30）和心理健康（MD 24，95% CI：21；50）。 27) 和社会角色功能 (MD 20, 95% CI: 17; 23)。年龄、BMI、BCRL 严重程度、手部和惯用手的影响对 HRQoL (MDs < 5) 仅产生很小的影响，表明个体间在应对淋巴水肿方面存在很大差异。这项研究表明，BCRL 与 HRQoL 的长期损害相关，特别是影响身体和心理社会领域。令人惊讶的是，HRQoL 的最大损害是 BCRL 诊断而非临床严重程度造成的。