Quality of life in breast cancer. Part I: Physical and social well-being.

Almost 2 million breast cancer survivors reside in the United States. An increase in consumer advocacy and media attention to this disease has helped bring breast cancer survivorship to the forefront of public attention. This has led to increased attention on quality of life (QOL) issues for these survivors of breast cancer. This two-part article presents the results of a qualitative, descriptive study evaluating the QOL of 21 breast cancer survivors. This study is based on our conceptual model of QOL including physical, psychological, social, and spiritual well-being. Part I of this article describes the impact of breast cancer on the physical and social domains of QOL based on in-depth interviews with breast cancer survivors.