Quality of Life in Women with Cervical Cancer

Abstract

Cervical cancer and its treatments can affect quality of life in many ways, both positively and negatively, from diagnosis through to the acute treatment and survivorship phases. In research settings, the collective term used for all these impacts is health-related quality of life (HRQOL). These include psychological distress related to impairment of functioning, body image, sexual function, and fertility. Additional distress often follows surgical, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy treatments as these can cause urinary, gastrointestinal, and neurologic side effects, physical changes, and sexual dysfunction. Some side effects and changes are chronic, such as psychosexual problems after treatmen..