Quality of life among women with breast cancer ffrom Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre, Malaysia

Introduction : The purpose of this study was to determine the quality of life (QOL) of breast cancer survivors based on socio-demographic and clinical characteristics. Methods : A cross-sectional study was performed on 125 breast cancer survivors from the outpatient clinics. FACT-B (Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Breast) questionnaire was used to assess survivors’ QOL. Results : Survivors with low body mass index (BMI) (underweight) were found to have the lowest overall QOL. Those who were overweight had a higher overall QOL, and those who were normal-weight had the highest QOL. Low educational level, being underweight and low monthly household income were significantly associated with lower overall QOL Tamoxifen use and employment status were significantly associated with QOL in some domains. Time since diagnosis to QOL interview was significantly associated with greater scores in emotional well-being (EWB). Multiple linear regression indicated that age, marital status, monthly household income, surgery and histological grade were indicative of the patients QOL. Conclusion : The four primary factors related to better QOL were high educational level, high income, normal body weight and greater duration from the time of diagnosis to the time of interview. Age, marital status, income, lumpectomy and histological grade were indicative of the patient QOL

Selenium dan fungsi tiroid

Pengukuran selenium dan fungsi tiroid telah dilakukan terhadap 442 orang penduduk di lima buah kampung orang Asli di pedalaman Pahang dan Perak. Pengukuran isipadu kelenjar tiroid ditentukan menggunakan alat ultrasound. Serum diambil bagi pengukuran selenium, TSH dan T4 manakala sampel urin dikumpul bagi pengukuran iodin. Min paras selenium adalah 4.082 ± 1.922 ppm (Julat 0.244 - 9.030 ppm). Kajian menunjukkan terdapat perbezaan yang bererti di antara paras selenium kanak-kanak dan dewasa (p<0.0001) dan di antara remaja dan dewasa (p<0.05). Perbezaan paras selenium adalah bererti (p < 0.0001) di antara lima kampung tersebut iaitu Pos Tual (5.638 + 0.332 ppm), Pos Legap (4.545 + 1.794 ppm), Pos Perwor (4.412 + 1.180 ppm), Pos Sinderut ( 3.910 + 2.082 ppm) dan Pos Bertang (0.890 + 0.331 ppm). Perbezaan yang bererti didapati antara isipadu goiter (p<0.0001) dan T4 (p<0.0001) menurut umur. Korelasi yang bererti juga terdapat di antara selenium dengan isipadu tiroid (Korelasi Pearson, r= ­0.1664, p=0.0051) dan selenium dengan T4 (Korelasi Pearson r=0.1789, p=0.0027). Ini menunjukkan kekurangan selenium berkorelasi dengan peningkatan isipadu kelenjar tiroid dan kekurangan hormon tiroksin