Introduction Post-operative complications are a major cause of morbidity in women with breast cancer. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between quality of life (QOL) before treatment for breast cancer and early post-operative complications in the National Cancer Institute-Brazil.

Methods Participants were women with unilateral breast cancer, requiring oncological treatment in National Cancer Institute-Brazil between June 2009 and March 2010. QOL before treatment was assessed using EORTC QLQ-C30 and BR23 module. Information about early post-operative complications (axillary web syndrome, pain and subjective symptoms related to early oedema in the upper limbs) were obtained by physical examination 30 days after surgery, collected using a standardised form. Bivariate analyses of dichotomous variables and independent variables were carried out and ORs, with 95% CIs present.

Results 181 women were studied. Women who reported good health overall were 57% less likely to experience early subjective oedema (95% CI 0.20 to 0.96). Symptoms scale of BR23 was negatively associated with pain (OR=0.11; 95% CI 0.21 to 0.73). Patients with good functionality-C30 were less likely to experience pain (OR 0.66 95% CI (0.15 to 0.75)). There was no statistically significant association with axillary web syndrome.

Conclusions In this study pre-treatment QOL in women with breast cancer was a useful predictor of early post-operative complications.