A systematic review 1 including 6 RCTs with a total of 682 subjects was abstracted in DARE. Women with breast conservation has a more favourable body image of themselves than those who had mastectomy in all five studies in which it was examined (p=0.03). The evidence was statistically inconclusive for all other dimensions measured, namely perceptions of psychological health, sexual health, physical health, fear of the future, and global quality of life.
Another systematic review 2 including 40 controlled studies with a total of 4,461 subjects was abstracted in DARE. The weighted effect sizes for psychological (mean = 0.118, SD = 0.039, p<0.019, marital-sexual (mean = 0.093, SD = 0.048), social adjustment (mean = 0.181, SD = 0.073m p<0.01), body/self image (mean = 0.4, SD = 0.043, p<0.00001) and cancer-related fears and concerns (mean = 0.161, SD = 0.063, p<0.0001) favoured breast-conserving surgery over mastectomy.
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