Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Apr;22(2):175-181.
doi: 10.1080/13697137.2018.1540563. Epub 2018 Dec 17.

Adjuvant endocrine therapy side-effects among postmenopausal breast cancer patients in Malaysia

S B Choo  1 , A Saifulbahri  1 , S N Zullkifli  1 , M L Fadzil  1 , A Md Redzuan  1 , N Abdullah  2 , R S Ahmad Bustamam  3 , H Z Ahmad  4 , N Mohamed Shah  1
Affiliations

Adjuvant endocrine therapy side-effects among postmenopausal breast cancer patients in Malaysia

S B Choo et al. Climacteric. 2019 Apr.

Abstract

Objective: This study was conducted to determine the prevalence and severity of menopausal symptoms and their associated risk factors among postmenopausal breast cancer patients receiving adjuvant endocrine therapy.

Methods: Postmenopausal breast cancer patients on endocrine therapy were recruited at three hospitals in Malaysia. Presence and severity of menopausal symptoms were determined using the Menopause Rating Scale. Sociodemographic and clinical data were collected from medical records.

Results: A total of 192 patients participated in this study. Commonly reported symptoms were musculoskeletal pain (59.9%), physical and mental exhaustion (59.4%), and hot flushes (41.1%). Multivariate analyses indicated that increasing number of years after menopause until the start of endocrine therapy was significantly associated with less likelihood of reporting menopausal symptoms and musculoskeletal pain. Patients with primary or secondary education levels reported significantly less menopausal urogenital symptoms compared to patients with a tertiary education level. Patients using aromatase inhibitors were twice as likely to experience musculoskeletal pain compared to patients using tamoxifen (odds ratio, 2.18; 95% confidence interval, 1.06-4.50; p < 0.05).

Conclusion: Menopausal symptoms and musculoskeletal pain are common problems encountered by postmenopausal breast cancer patients receiving adjuvant endocrine therapy and should be closely monitored for successful treatment.

Keywords: Adjuvant endocrine therapy; Malaysia; breast cancer; postmenopausal.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

LinkOut - more resources