Table 1 Characteristics of 499 HEAL women.

From: Self-reported symptoms of arm lymphedema and health-related quality of life among female breast cancer survivors

Characteristics

All women (N = 499)

No lymphedema (N = 362)

Lymphedema symptom-free (N = 40)a

1 + lymphedema symptoms (N = 97)

P-valueb

N (%)

N (%)

N (%)

N (%)

Race/ethnicity

Non-Hispanic White

272 (55)

207 (76)

23 (8)

42 (15)

 

African American

155 (31)

103 (66)

6 (4)

46 (30)

 

Hispanic

54 (11)

36 (67)

10 (19)

8 (15)

 

American Indian, Asian Pacific, other

18 (4)

16 (89)

1 (6)

1 (6)

0.0002c

Age at 40-month assessment (years)

38–49

128 (26)

83 (65)

8 (6)

37 (29)

 

50–59

215 (43)

156 (73)

19 (9)

40 (19)

 

60–69

156 (31)

123 (79)

13 (8)

20 (13)

0.02

Disease stage

Localized

352 (71)

264 (75)

29 (8)

59 (17)

 

Regional

147 (29)

98 (67)

11 (7)

38 (26)

0.06

Surgery type

Less than total mastectomy

320 (64)

243 (76)

29 (9)

48 (15)

 

Total or modified radical mastectomy

179 (36)

119 (66)

11 (6)

49 (27)

0.003c

Number of excised lymph nodes

0–9

158 (32)

136 (86)

7 (4)

15 (9)

 

10–19

260 (52)

172 (66)

24 (9)

64 (25)

 

≥ 20

81 (16)

54 (67)

9 (11)

18 (22)

0.0002

Radiation therapy

No

172 (34)

120 (70)

13 (8)

39 (23)

 

Yes

327 (66)

242 (74)

27 (8)

58 (18)

0.41

Chemotherapy

No

260 (52)

203 (78)

21 (8)

36 (14)

 

Yes

239 (48)

159 (67)

19 (8)

61 (26)

0.004

Tamoxifen

No

178 (36)

130 (73)

14 (8)

34 (19)

 

Yes

321 (64)

232 (72)

26 (8)

63 (20)

0.98

Marital status at 30-month assessment

Married or living with a partner

291 (58)

218 (75)

22 (8)

51 (18)

 

Widowed/divorced/separated

164 (33)

114 (70)

14 (9)

36 (22)

 

Never married

34 (7)

24 (71)

3 (9)

7 (21)

0.79

Missing

10 (2)

6 (60)

1 (10)

3 (30)

 

Education

High school or less

128 (26)

94 (73)

11 (9)

23 (18)

 

Some college

181 (36)

129 (71)

14 (8)

38 (21)

 

College graduate

94 (19)

63 (67)

5 (5)

26 (28)

0.11

Graduate studies

96 (19)

76 (79)

10 (10)

10 (10)

 

Employment status at 30-month assessment

Currently working

323 (65)

236 (73)

30 (9)

57 (18)

 

Unemployed/not working/ retired/disabled

165 (33)

120 (73)

9 (5)

36 (22)

0.22

Missing

11 (2)

6 (55)

1 (9)

4 (36)

 

Income at 30-month assessment (US dollars)

 ≤ 50,000

245 (49)

179 (73)

18 (7)

48 (20)

 

 > 50,000

214 (43)

153 (72)

19 (9)

42 (20)

0.83

Missing

40 (8)

30 (75)

3 (8)

7 (18)

 

Physical activity at 30-month assessment (MET hours)

0

69 (14)

54 (78)

3 (4)

12 (17)

 

0.1–8.9

209 (42)

153 (73)

14 (7)

42 (20)

 

 ≥ 9

209 (42)

147 (70)

22 (11)

40 (19)

0.42

Missing

12 (2)

8 (67)

1 (8)

3 (25)

 

Body mass index at 30-month assessment (kg/m2)

 < 25

173 (35)

139 (80)

8 (5)

26 (15)

 

25–29.9

134 (27)

98 (73)

15 (11)

21 (16)

 

 ≥ 30 or above

153 (31)

98 (64)

11 (7)

44 (29)

0.002

Missing

39 (8)

27 (69)

6 (15)

6 (15)

 

Charlson Comorbidity Index

0

445 (89)

321 (72)

38 (9)

86 (19)

 

 ≥ 1

53 (11)

40 (75)

2 (4)

11 (21)

0.48

Missing

1 (0)

1 (100)

0 (0)

0 (0)

 

Lymphedema treatmentd

Never

62 (45)

–

22 (35)

40 (65)

 

Ever

75 (55)

–

18 (24)

57 (76)

0.14

Change in clothing size/style due to lymphedemad

No

99 (72)

–

33 (33)

66 (67)

 

Yes

38 (28)

–

7 (18)

31 (82)

0.09

  1. MET metabolic equivalents of energy expenditure, N number.
  2. aOne of the 98 women reporting current lymphedema at the 40-month assessment did not report any of the lymphedema-related symptoms we queried; this woman is included in the “Lymphedema symptom-free” group.
  3. bP-values are based on Chi-square test without missing values.
  4. cA statistically significant difference was detected based on Chi-square test comparing between women who were lymphedema symptom-free and women with 1 or more lymphedema symptoms (P < 0.05).
  5. dThe proportions are based on 137 women who reported past or current lymphedema.
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