Do male partners of breast cancer patients perceive the quality of life of their mates?

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18502 Background: Scant scientific data exists regarding the quality of life (QOL) of female breast cancer patients as perceived by their male partners. Methods: We evaluated the QOL of 73 breast cancer patients and their partners perception using the abbreviated and Portuguese (from Brazil) validated questionnaires forms of the World Health Organization Quality of life (WHOQOL-bref) and WHOQOL-bref adapted for the third person, respectively. The breast cancer patients were also evaluated by the Beck Depression Scale (BDS) and were considered depressed if they had a score equal or greater than 10. The inclusion criteria for this study were: female breast cancer patients with stage I to III, cohabitation with a male partner for at least one year, age from 18 to 65 years old, being able to understand the questionnaires and sign an informed consent term. In order to compare the the scores of the WHOQOL-bref of breast cancer patients and the scores of the adapted WHOQOL-bref of their partners, we used the Pearson correlation index, Student’s t test and variation analysis. All statistical tests were two-sided, and P < .05 was used to indicate statistical significance. Results: In the analysis of all 73 patients, we found no difference between the perceptions of QOL and its domains between the breast cancer patients and their partners (see table ). However, in the subgroups of patients who had a mastectomy (n = 32) or were depressed (n = 35) as measured by the BDS scale, we found differences as their partners rated them higher on the physical domain and psychological domain (P = 0.003 and P = 0.009), respectively. Conclusions: Male partners of breast cancer patients have an accurate perception of their mates’ QOL. The only exceptions we found were in subgroup analysis of women who had a mastectomy and/or were depressed. Our findings suggest that the male partners of breast cancer patients can be seen as reliable surrogates of their QOL. [Table: see text] No significant financial relationships to disclose.