4.1 QOL in patients with breast cancer after operation
This research has shown that the median total score of QOL was 88 points (range 0-144 points), which is above average. Compared with the research of Criscitiello C et al.[19], the QOL in this study is slightly lower (99.0 ± 21.9). Lu Q et al. [20]showed that compared with their American counterparts, Chinese breast cancer survivors reported a lower QOL. Although with the development of medical technology and the implementation of the Healthy China Strategy, China has gradually paid attention to the QOL of humans, the QOL has been greatly improved[7], and the QOL in this research has exceeded the average level, but it is still slightly lower than that of breast cancer patients in other countries. It may be that most of the participants in this study have a low education level[21], medium economic status, and younger age structure, making them more prone to panic about death, unknown and financial contraction[7]. The majority of participants undergo mastectomy (62.7%) and have the lowest score in the functional status dimension of FACT-B (Table 2). Patients with mastectomy are more likely to suffer from physical and psychological discomfort, and their probability of shoulder and motor function limitation is 6 times higher than that of patients with breast-conserving surgery[22]. The early postoperative functional score is also lower than that of patients who chose breast-conserving, and the systemic side effects are more severe[20,23]. Therefore, similar to the studies in China[24-25], the QOL of the participants in this study is above average, in which the score of functional status is the lowest, but the QOL was still slightly lower than that of foreign breast cancer patients.
4.2 Relationship between stigma and QOL in patients with breast cancer after operation
This research explores the relationship between stigma and QOL and its influence path in patients with breast cancer after surgery. Among them, the stigma of patients is above average, which is similar to most studies, indicating that patients with breast cancer after surgery generally experience stigma[8-9]. The results show that stigma is negatively correlated with QOL and its dimensions (Table 3). By constructing a structural equation model (Figure 1), we further explain the path of stigma affecting QOL: the direct effect of stigma on QOL is not significant, and the way of influence is mainly through indirect effects. Similar to previous studies, there was a negative correlation between stigma and QOL[4,10], and stigma prevented patients from seeking medical help and adhering to treatment[10,27]. For cancer patients, it is an obstacle to maintain health-related QOL[28-29]. Hatzenbuehler ML et al.[30] proposed that there were mediating effects regulated by different mechanisms between stigma and QOL. According to different mediating effects, there is a direct effect between stigma and QOL[31], and it can also be completely affected by indirect effects[8]. In this study, the effect of stigma on QOL is completely mediated by self-disclosure and social support.
4.3 Chain mediating effect of self-disclosure and social support between stigma and QOL in breast cancer patients after operation
In this survey, self-disclosure and social support of patients after breast cancer surgery are negatively correlated with stigma and positively correlated with QOL (Table 3). The results of Figure 1 and Table 6 show that there are three indirect effects of stigma on QOL: stigma→self-disclosure→QOL;stigma→social support→QOL;stigma→social support→QOL;stigma→self-disclosure→social support→QOL.
4.3.1 Mediating effect of social support between stigma and QOL
The results of this study show that the indirect effect value of stigma → social support →QOL is -0.014, accounting for 3.73% of the total indirect effect. The stigma experience can improve the QOL through the increase of social support. The breast cancer patients who have finished surgery often have social support needs[32], when patients receive more social support, their stigma would be lower[33]. Social support can improve the QOL of patients[12-13], and buffer the pressure by promoting their mental health and physical health[33]. At the same time, based on the theory of "stress buffer hypothesis", social support can be used as a " direct driver" to improve personal well-being and health, and as a "pre-factor" to improve individuals' positive coping styles and psychological status, so as to have a positive impact on life and health[4]. Therefore, while paying attention to the physical condition of breast cancer patients after surgery, medical staff should give more care to patients, mobilize their families and friends to support them, understand their inner feelings and needs, and give feedback timely.
4.3.2 The chain mediating effect of self-disclosure and social support between stigma and QOL
The results of this study show that the indirect effect value of stigma → self-disclosure →QOL was -0.271, accounting for 84.16% of the total indirect effect, ranking first among the three mediating effect paths. Chinese breast cancer patients believe that coping with disease and misfortune is a private matter, and they are reluctant to disclose their diagnosis, treatment, and disease-related thoughts and feelings to others[37]. Women who do not disclose their diagnosis and related concerns are more likely to blame themselves, which may increase the risk of depression that affected emotional well-being and reduce the QOL[38]. According to the "social cognitive processing theory", individual adaptation to cancer can be facilitated by emotional disclosure, which helps to improve psychological adaptation to cancer in the social environment[33,35]. The results show that the indirect effect value of stigma→self-disclosure→social support→QOL was -0.037, accounting for 9.87% of the total indirect effect. Similar to the path of this research, the results of Taniguchi E et al.[39] showed that the characteristics of self-disclosure implied stigma and indirectly promoted psychological well-being through social support, which was a prerequisite for social support. At the same time, self-disclosure enhanced the benefits of social support and was a "booster" of social support. The research of R Rüsch N et al.[40]showed that the better family and friends' attitude towards patients' self-disclosure, the better the QOL of patients. Therefore, when medical staff is concerned about the stigma experience by patients after breast cancer surgery, we should encourage patients to express their emotions, and also encourage their families and friends to respond effectively to the expression, express their concern and support for patients, then improve the QOL of patients as much as possible.
To sum up, the QOL of breast cancer patients after surgery still needs to be improved, which can be affected by stigma, self-disclosure, and social support. Stigma can affect QOL through multiple mediating effects of self-disclosure and social support. To improve the QOL of patients, we should encourage patients and their families to express themselves and carry out relevant psychological counseling activities.
4.4 Study limitations
There are some limitations to this study. First, this study uses a cross-sectional design, only the independent time point data are collected, and it can not assess patients at different times. A longitudinal study design can be introduced in the later research to explore the trajectory of patients' QOL at different times. Secondly, this study adopted a convenient sampling method to collect data in five hospitals, and the representativeness of the sample needs to be improved. Although we used convenient sampling, we tried our best to achieve "stratified sampling" by hospital and operation. In the future, we will continue to expand the sample size, increase the hospitals included in the study, adopt a random sampling method, and include more influencing factors for analysis to obtain more accurate conclusions.